Broken Statues
by sangheilitat117
Summary: Ruby is a rookie cop working the graveyard shift. She grew up by herself, and while she wouldn't ever tell anyone, she's not as tough and upbeat as she acts. She simply wants someone to come home to, and she's growing tired and lonely. But when she gets a routine call to an abandoned lot, her life changes in a way she never expected.
1. Chapter 1

"Five paul fifty-one, go to Anderson and Kyrene for a 647 tom, suspected transient."

Ruby Rose sighed and glared down at the radio in her police cruiser, hoping that if she stared at it hard enough, the dispatcher on the other end would somehow feel her anger and give the call to another unit. Or burst into flames. After five seconds of the radio not bursting into flames however, she sighed again and picked it up.

"Five paul fifty-one, copy that."

She put down the radio and pulled a quick u-turn down the dimly lit street she had been driving down. There weren't any other cars on the road; there hardly ever were at 3:37 in the morning.

"I hate the graveyard shift," she muttered to herself as she drove. "Let's see… Anderson and Kyrene, that's where that deserted lot is at, right? Why would a homeless person be hanging around there?"

She knew every inch of her zone by now, the roughly twenty square-mile area that she had been assigned to four months back. It would be another eight months before the shift lottery ran again, and she was already desperately praying that she would somehow get lucky and pull a day shift.

The long nights were really starting to take a toll on her. Her shift was from eight at night until eight in the morning, and it left her so dead tired the next day that she found herself nearly incapable of functioning. She couldn't hike like she used to, she couldn't go out and treat herself to nice restaurants - she loved good food, despite her inability to cook it - and she couldn't even hang out with her old friends anymore.

She sighed a third time as she pulled into the old lot at the corner of Anderson and Kyrene. Her headlights cut a large swathe into the darkness, illuminating scattered piles of trash and detritus. The husks of old cars lay abandoned next to discarded furniture, splintered bed-frames, and twisted piles of metal. The whole place somehow reeked of abandonment and loneliness.

"What kind of person wants to live here instead of begging on the streets?" Ruby murmured.

She climbed out of her police cruiser and straightened her uniform, then pulled out and flicked on her powerful flashlight. Her other hand subconsciously went down to rest on the butt of her service pistol.

She thumbed the mic on her collar. "Five paul fifty-one, on scene."

"Copy that," came the reply over her radio.

She cautiously began moving forward, deeper into the abandoned lot. She swept her flashlight back and forth, but the only thing she found was more trash. The call was for a suspected transient—a person living here that wasn't supposed to be. This lot was private property, and anyone staying here would be trespassing and loitering. The proper course of action was to find them and take them to the county jail for the night, where they would be released from the next morning. However, she had to actually find them first.

"That is if they actually exist in the first place," she grumbled.

She swept her flashlight over a particularly dense pile of trash bags and abandoned mattresses. Suddenly there was a quick flash of movement. A ghostly blur darted from the trash bags and disappeared behind a pile of scrap metal, startling her and kicking her instincts into high gear. She tightened her grip on her pistol, but kept it in its holster.

"Come out and put your hands up!" she shouted into the darkness.

There was no reply.

She growled in frustration and carefully moved around the pile of trash, keeping her flashlight trained on the scrap metal hill. She reached the other side, but found nothing.

"The heck?" she whispered.

She swept the flashlight beam across the hill, up to the top, and back down to the bottom again. Nothing. She frowned and was just about to turn away, when the beam glinted off of something. It was only a dull gleam, but she knew from experience what it was: a pair of eyes. She pointed the beam directly at them, and realized that there was someone hidden inside the tangle of metal.

She narrowed her eyes as she realized that they weren't actually hidden inside it, but they were so dirty that they actually blended in with the rest of the discarded trash.

"Hey, you," she started. "Step uh… step away from the trash and into the light! No quick movements!"

The figure stood up and complied without any hesitation. She stepped fully into the light, and Ruby gasped, her hand dropping from the butt of her pistol.

The figure was undoubtedly a girl, judging by the way the clothes—or rags, more accurately—she wore clung to her thin frame. She wore what looked to be the remains of a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, and Ruby could see the girl's ribs poking out from her exposed midsection.

Her hair was long, and hung down nearly to her knees. It was a splotchy medley of browns, all different shades and hues. It was also clumped and matted, and Ruby wondered how much of the brown was her natural hair color, and how much of it was dirt.

But the girl's state of dress and appearance aside, the most disconcerting thing was the expression on her face. More specifically, the lack of one.

The girl—who appeared to be an inch or two shorter than Ruby—had her arms hung down by her side, and her expression was blank and unreadable. Her eyes were a muted, empty blue, and she stared straight ahead without looking at anything in particular.

"Um, hello?" Ruby asked. "Are you okay? What's your name?"

The girl said nothing, nor did she make any movements.

Ruby flicked her flashlight to a lower setting and the girl's pupils dilated slightly, but she still didn't seem to actually _see_ anything. The brunette felt a strange worry in the pit of her stomach, like a twisting knot in her chest. Something about this girl tugged at her heartstrings. She rarely let herself feel anything while she was working, otherwise she would have become an emotional wreck long ago.

But this girl… She couldn't help but feel for her. Something terrible had happened to her; her dead eyes and blank stare said that much. And her current state, her current condition? Living in a pile of trash with nothing but a few rags to her name?

Ruby suddenly wondered if she would actually be able to take this girl to jail or not. Her gaze wandered down to the girl's emaciated ribs, and the Mcdonald's she had in her car - the Mcdonald's she hadn't been able to eat yet because of this call - sprang into her mind.

"Hey," she said in as soothing and friendly of a tone as possible. "Are you hungry?"

The girl's head snapped up, and she stared at Ruby with all the intensity of a starving dog.

"Whoa, I'll take that as a yes. Just follow me back to my car, okay?"

The girl continued to stare at her, but made no move to follow. Ruby cocked her head in confusion. Did this girl not understand English or something?

"Food, my car," Ruby said. She pointed to her car. "This way."

Ruby walked back to her cruiser, glancing behind her every few seconds to make sure that the mysterious girl was following. She was, in a way. She stared directly at Ruby's back and exactly followed the path that she made, not even deviating a single step.

Ruby was stuck somewhere between concerned and creeped out. Was this girl so broken that she couldn't even think for herself, or was she just mentally impaired?

Ruby reached her patrol cruiser and flicked the interior lights on, then turned off her flashlight and tossed it inside. Watching the girl out of the corner of her eye, she reached inside the car and pulled out a Mcdonald's take-out bag.

The scent of still-warm hamburgers and fries filled the chilly night air, and the strange girl's eyes went wide as she bit her bottom lip.

Ruby stifled a giggle at the sight of it, and reached inside and pulled out a wrapped triple cheeseburger.

"You want this?" she asked.

For the first time that night, the strange girl met her eyes. Ice blue irises with the depth and complexity of an arctic ocean stared at her with a terrifying intelligence, startling her with their sudden intensity.

The girl nodded once, and Ruby found herself handing over the hamburger with no conscious effort on her part. She took it and began eating it, not hastily like Ruby had expected, but almost delicately in a way. While the girl was eating as if the food had became her entire world, Ruby took the opportunity to look at her. Her skin was dirty and her hair matted, but under all the dirt and grime, Ruby could tell that she must have been absolutely beautiful. It made her heart ache to think about this poor girl and how she was left to fend for herself like an abandoned dog.

"So uh, do you have a name?" Ruby asked once the girl had finished the hamburger.

She said nothing, but only stood there with her arms at her side and her eyes somewhere… else.

"Are you mute or something?"

No response.

Ruby frowned. This girl needed to be taken away from this place, not taken to jail. She needed a home, somewhere to stay, someone to take care of her. A part of Ruby wanted it to be her, but she knew how unrealistic that kind of thinking was. The legal process existed for a reason, and this girl _was_ technically trespassing on private property.

She would have to spend the night in jail before any other action could be taken.

Ruby's frown deepened as she realized what she had to do.

She lured the girl into the back of the police cruiser using the fries—which was pitifully easy—got into the front, and backed out of the lot.

She drove down the lonely streets: long stretches of road illuminated by intermittent street lights. And for some reason, she found herself reflecting on the comparative loneliness of her life. She lived by herself in a cramped one-bedroom apartment, and had no one to greet her when she came home. Maybe…

As the county jail grew closer and closer, all she could think of was someone inside taking advantage of this poor girl. Sure, the drunk tank cells that they kept people in for one-night stays usually weren't bad, but something about it left a bad taste in her mouth. She didn't know if this girl was mute, dumb, or just broken. She wouldn't feel right just dropping her off at the county jail.

She stopped at a red light. The light went green, but she didn't move.

Her thumb hovered over the send button on her radio. She bit her lip and tapped a beat into the plastic of the cruiser's dashboard.

She threw a quick glance behind her and was startled to find the girl staring at her again with those ice-blue eyes, and with all the intensity of a cornered animal.

"You don't want to go to jail, do you?" Ruby whispered.

The girl didn't give any response, but Ruby hadn't expected her to anyway.

She fought down a guilty grin and thumbed her radio. "Dispatch this is five paul fifty-one. Investigated the area, no suspect found, over."

"Copy that five paul fifty-one," came the reply.

A thrill of fear and excitement coursed through Ruby as she pulled a u-turn and began driving away from the jail. That was the first time she had ever lied to dispatch. She would get fired for this. That is, if anyone ever found out.

Somehow, this felt like taking home a stray dog. Because she wasn't driving to the jail anymore.

She was driving home to her apartment.

* * *

The key turned, the lock clicked, and Ruby pushed the door open and stepped inside her pitch-black apartment. She nearly stumbled over an empty stack of pizza boxes before making it to the light switch and flicking it on. It dimly illuminated a modest kitchen that bordered a living room with a couch, a few chairs, and a large television. To the left of the living room was a small hallway that led to the apartment's single bedroom and single bathroom. Blankets, pillows, weapon parts for various rifles, plastic utensils, empty boxes of delivery chinese, single shoes without their partners, and discarded clothes littered the entire place.

"So uh, this is my place," Ruby said. "I know it's not much, but you can stay here for a while while I… figure out what to do with you I guess. Don't um, don't mind the mess, I wasn't expecting visitors. I'll clean it up as soon as I get back though!"

The girl from the abandoned lot said nothing, as always. She stood out in the hall on the lip of the door, as if waiting for permission to go inside.

"Well come on," Ruby said as she gestured her inside. "I'm technically still on shift, so no one can see you or me. Good thing it's still four a.m."

The girl stepped into the apartment, but made no move to go any further inside.

Ruby frowned in confusion. "Hmm. Um, do you want something to drink? Water?"

The girl gave no response.

Ruby walked over to the kitchen, pulled a tall glass from the cupboards, and poured some tap water from the sink. "Maybe you really are just mute," she muttered.

She handed it to the strange girl, who drank it in four gulps without stopping. But then she did something unexpected. She held it back out to Ruby, and actually looked at her for the third time that night.

"You want… more?" Ruby asked. She mimicked drinking with her empty hand. "More?"

The girl looked confused, but nodded.

Ruby smiled at her accomplishment and refilled the glass, and the girl drank it just like before. Ruby giggled and refilled it a third time. Then a fourth time. Then a fifth. After the sixth glass, the girl returned to staring at the wall.

Ruby's radio picked up suddenly. The call was for another officer, but it snapped her back into reality.

"Oh crap," Ruby muttered. She grabbed her utility belt and strapped it back on, and was halfway out the door when she realized the girl was still standing in the kitchen, staring at the wall.

"You can like, sit down or something," Ruby called out.

The girl didn't move.

Ruby sighed in exasperation. She didn't have time for this.

She walked over to the strange girl, took her by the hand, and led her to the couch. She gently pushed the girl down, and she complied. She sat on the couch in a strangely elegant pose, back straight with her hands folded over her knees, staring straight ahead at the blank television. Ruby frowned and switched it on.

"Well at least you have something to watch. You can sleep on the couch, and don't worry about getting it messy, I'll clean it up afterwards. And I'll uh, I'll show you how to s-shower or something when I get back too. It'll be four hours until my shift is done, so give me until eight thirty. Oh, and my name is Ruby. Um, bye!"

With that she flew out of the apartment, locked the door, and ran to her patrol cruiser.

She was halfway down Amberlamps St. when the full weight of her actions finally hit her.

"What the hell did I just do?" she muttered into her hand.

* * *

Ruby's hands were trembling the next time she unlocked the door to her apartment. Normally when she got off shift at eight in the morning she was dead tired and barely functioning, but normally she didn't have a dirty, beautiful girl waiting for her at home. This was first time she'd had someone waiting on her, and it was far from how she had imagined it to be.

The girl was still sitting on the couch, in the exact same pose Ruby had left her. However, the apartment was _not _exactly the same.

It was clean. For the first time that Ruby could remember in over half a year, it was _clean_. The pillows were arranged neatly on the couch, the the blankets were folded, the weapon parts were neatly organized on the coffee table, and all the discarded food containers and plastic silverware were missing. What few dishes she owned were sparkling clean and drying in the rack on the kitchen counter, and Ruby could see her clothes neatly folded on her bed.

She dropped her keys. "What the fuck."

The girl simply remained on the couch, unblinking and unmoving.

Ruby moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the television. "Did you do all this?"

As always, there was no response. The girl didn't even seem to mind that she was blocking the television. Ruby stared at her for a few long, drawn out seconds, and then threw her hands into the air in frustration.

"Argh! Why am I even bothering with you?"

The girl said nothing.

Ruby smacked her own forehead with her palm. "Screw this. You need a shower. You're getting a shower. Follow me."

She grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled, and she followed without an ounce of hesitation. She passed through the bedroom and reached the bathroom, then turned on the shower. She turned to the other girl.

"You need to uh, u-undress. Like, take your clothes off."

The girl didn't do anything of the sort.

Ruby frowned and took off her jacket. "See? Taking off clothes? Getting undressed?"

The girl continued to stare at the wall, but now there was a strange glint in her eyes. Surprise? Fear?

Ruby bit her bottom lip, and then hesitantly reached out with the intent to tug on the girl's shirt a little, show her what she meant. But the second her hand touched the girl's shirt, she screamed like a wounded animal and shoved Ruby away.

Ruby hit the wall hard and almost fell down, but barely managed to catch herself on the sink.

"What the hell!" she shouted, dazed and confused from hitting her head.

The strange girl stared at her, her fists clenched and her eyes full of a burning anger. She pointed at Ruby and spoke for the first time.

"Ne trogayte menya! You do not touch me forever!"

Ruby's eyes went wide. What was so surprising was not so much that the girl had spoken, but that she had spoken another language. When she had switched to English however, her accent was distinctly Russian.

"Y-You speak?" Ruby whispered.

"Yes. I speak. English not good language. Dirty. Cheap. But you understand nothing else, yes?"

"Um… no, I don't really speak Russian." Ruby realized that she was still on the bathroom floor, and picked herself up. "Why did you freak out just then?"

The girl's glare had softened a little, but now it returned with full force. "You do not touch me. Forever."

"Do you mean… don't touch me _ever_?"

"Yes. Fine, that. English is dirty."

"Um, oka_yyy_. Well you're pretty dirty too, so you should probably take a shower…"

"I take shower the moment you leave room. Ubiraysya!" The girl made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Okay, okay! Just don't use all my hot water!" Ruby said, then turned on her heel and exited the bathroom with a huff. She walked into the living room and looked around, marveling at how much nicer her apartment looked when everything was clean. But even that somehow rankled her; it wasn't the other girl's business to clean up her house.

She flopped down on the couch to the sound of water running through the creaking pipes in the ceiling above her. "Who the heck does that crazy girl think she is?" Ruby muttered to herself. She flipped the TV on and tried to lose herself in the mindless entertainment. "I don't even know her freaking name… and I can't even go to bed yet because she's still up..."

Her eyes started to droop, and she didn't stop them.

Almost thirty minutes later, Ruby blearily awoke on the couch. The television was still blaring, but something was different. With a start, she pushed herself up off of the couch as she realized that the water was off now. She was a light sleeper, and even a minute change in the background noise around her would wake her up.

She was walking to the bathroom with hesitant steps, ready to call out and ask if the girl was done, when the door was pushed open and the girl strode out of her own accord.

And Ruby nearly tripped over her own feet. The girl was _gorgeous_. Her face was thin, her eyes sunken in with heavy dark circles, but it was easily still the most attractive face Ruby had ever seen. Smooth cheekbones, a sharp chin, and pale blue eyes framed by somehow still-perfect eyebrows. There was a noticeable scar over her left eye, but that wasn't even the strangest thing about her. Her hair was _white_. Not off-white, not light grey, not a dull cream, but the purest, whitest white Ruby had ever seen, like fresh powder from the surface of an untouched mountain.

Her emaciated ribs and too-thin stomach were covered by a thick white towel, so Ruby was free to imagine what her figure might have looked like if she had been eating. It was an image she knew she would remember until the day she died.

Weiss gave her a quick up-and-down look with all the interest one shows a bug. "Kak glupo ty? Will you stare at me all day? I need clothes."

Ruby's mouth flapped open and closed like a fish, but she managed to look away long enough to open her dresser drawer and pull out the first thing she could find: a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

She handed them to the girl, who stared at them for a few seconds in apparent disgust before taking them. She stepped back into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Y-You can uh, I mean I'm tired after my shift, so you can sleep on the couch until tomorrow? We can like, uh, figure out what to do with you then. L-Like not figure out what to do with you, but find you a place to stay and all that stuff so… yeah. You can uh, you can sleep in my bed if you want, and I'll take the couch?"

Ruby swallowed nervously while she leaned on the door and waited for the girl's response, feeling like butterflies were tearing up the inside of her stomach. No one had ever made her so nervous before. She was the top of her class in the Academy, which had been full of men determined not to let a girl outperform them. She had never taken crap from anyone, and yet this almost illegally beautiful woman seemed to possess the strange ability to turn her into a stuttering wreck. It was confusing.

The girl pushed open the door and pushed past her, already on her way to the living room. "I will sleep on couch."

Ruby was stunned for a second, but then moved to stand by the couch. She started unconsciously twirling her hair, before realizing what she was doing and stopping herself.

"O-Okay. Well I'm just gonna… go to sleep then. You gonna be okay? I mean it is technically like nine in the morning right now, but I don't have work tomorrow so-"

"Perestan'te govorit. I am tired, I will sleep."

"Oh. Alright then."

Ruby was halfway to her room before she realized she still didn't know the girl's name. She stopped and turned around.

"Hey uh, can you tell me your name? I mean you're kind of staying in my house and I already told you mine so-"

"Weiss."

"W-what?" The girl was staring at her from the couch now, and Ruby felt her knees grow strangely weak.

"My name is Weiss. Spokoynoy Nochi. Means goodnight."

"Well it's technically morning but…" Ruby realized that the girl was no longer listening to her, so she turned around and headed into her room.

She flopped down on her bed, feeling more tired than she ever had in the past six months. But even still, she couldn't stop thinking of this girl, this strange, beautiful girl that she had literally brought home from the dump.

"Weiss, huh?" she whispered to the light of the rising sun.

* * *

The sun was almost fully set when she finally awoke, and only the smallest slivers of light peeked in through her bedroom window.

She groaned and rolled over on her stomach, bunching the sheets up in her fists and trying to shake off the lingering effects of her slumber. Her throat hurt and her mouth was dry. Dimly, she became aware of the smell and sound of meat sizzling in a pan.

She bolted upright and was about to rush into her kitchen to find out who had broken into her house, before memories of the previous morning flooded into her mind. She remembered the strange girl, her nearly-incomprehensible Russian accent, and her breathtakingly beautiful white hair. And now she was cooking too? And even stranger, she was cooking well? Ruby couldn't remember the last time she had smelt something good coming from her kitchen; the most complex thing she could cook was pizza, and she regularly burnt it beyond recognition.

After putting on a loose-fitting t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants—she had to remember the pants because she normally didn't wear any at home—she crept through the tiny hallway separating her bedroom from the living room, then peeked around the corner to the kitchen.

Weiss was there, standing in front of the stove and pouring a strange seasoning that Ruby didn't quite remember buying into a pan of some type of meat. She put the seasoning back in the drawer, and then stirred the meat around the pan with a pair of tongs.

Ruby stood there for a few seconds, admiring the girl's flawless, almost ethereal beauty, while at the same time trying to figure out how to break the silence.

"Will you stand there forever?" Weiss suddenly said. She didn't turn around to look at Ruby. "You have so few ingredients, but I still make food best I can."

Ruby jumped in surprise. She stepped out from behind the corner and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, s-sorry, I wasn't trying to spy on you or anything. I just didn't think you'd be able to cook or anything."

"Why? Because you find me in a dump?"

"No! I mean like, because I… I mean, yeah I guess. Kinda."

Weiss snorted. "Of course. So predictable. The ingredients you keep in your kitchen tell me you have no idea what you are doing when it comes to food. So I fix that. I cook for you."

Ruby stepped into the kitchen and peeked over Weiss' shoulder. The meat inside—beef, by the look of it—looked and smelled absolutely mouth-watering. "C-Cook for me? You're cooking for me?"

"Yes. You let me sleep in your house. I repay you with cooking. Fair, yes?"

"Sure, uh, fair. What're you making anyway?"

"I will tell you when it is ready. Now go sit down. I do not like you watching me."

"Oookay," Ruby replied. She sauntered over to the small table in the corner of her living room and sat down. There were only two chairs, and while she had always wanted the other one to be filled, this was the last thing she had thought of when she imagined finally entertaining a visitor.

A few minutes later the food was ready, and Weiss brought over a steaming plate of some type of dough-wrapped meat dumplings and set it down. Ruby sat patiently as she returned to the kitchen, then came back with two forks and two glasses of water as well.

"I notice you don't have plates," Weiss deadpanned in her seductive—albeit strangely, uncomfortably arousing—accent.

"Well uh, yeah. Mostly, I just eat by myself on the couch out of whatever I cook with. Or I order chinese… or pizza…"

"Disgusting American foods," Weiss replied while placing a few on the dumplings on Ruby's plate. "This is pelmeni. Good food. Eat some."

Ruby picked up a piece of pelmeni with her fork and placed it in her mouth, and then actually had to put down her fork to savor how truly delicious it was. She closed her eyes and moaned unconsciously. The dough was hot and tender and actually melted in her mouth, and the meat inside was seasoned to absolute perfection.

She opened her eyes to find Weiss grinning at her. "Is good, yes?"

"Like… wow. _Wow_. Holy cow, wow. Where'd did you learn to cook like this?"

Weiss' grin disappeared, and she looked down and started eating her own pelmeni. "Russia," was all she said, and Ruby decided not to press the issue.

They finished eating in silence, which wasn't actually all that difficult because of how good the food was. Ruby only stopped eating to wash the pelmeni down with gulps of water; she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten something this good and she wanted to take advantage of it while it lasted. She didn't know how long this girl would be staying with her, and she didn't want to make any assumptions either.

Once the plate was empty, Weiss picked it and the empty glasses up without a word and took them to the kitchen.

Ruby watched her go, and then realized that she didn't actually know what to do next. Normally her shift would start in a few hours, and she would already be getting ready for work: cleaning her pistol, making sure her gear was in order, working on unfinished reports from the night prior. But today was one of her days off; she only worked five days a week under normal circumstances.

And under those normal circumstances, she would already be on her couch in nothing but a t-shirt and panties, eating freshly-delivered pizza and trying to find something on Netflix to entertain her for more than five minutes.

Now, she didn't know exactly what to do. She knew she was supposed to entertain her guest somehow, but she had a feeling Weiss wouldn't take too well to sitting on the couch and watching shows.

What she really wanted to do was find out more about Weiss. Where she was from, why she was in the dump, where she learned to cook so well, what had happened to make her move from Russia to the States. The girl was a mystery, a beautiful puzzle, and Ruby loved puzzles. Like her fascination with weapons, she loved taking things apart and finding out what made them tick. Not that she wanted to take Weiss apart, but she wouldn't mind seeing more of-

She mentally slapped herself and stared at the ceiling as she caught her thoughts wandering down a path much more lewder than usual. She needed to find something to do with Weiss, and the quickest way to find what Weiss liked was to ask.

"Hey Weiss? I'm pretty much free for the rest of the day so uh, is there anything you wanna do? We could like go somewhere… and do something?"

Weiss continued washing the pan she had cooked the pelmeni in. "What would you want to do?"

The way she said her w's as almost v's made Ruby's heart jump a little. She wasn't sure if she liked that or not. "Well I mean that's why I was asking you. I usually just kinda sit here and watch Netflix."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Netflix? What is that?"

"It's like this thing where you can watch tv shows whenever you want, and you can pause them and stuff. It gets kind of addicting, heh."

"Hmm."

Weiss' lack of a response was somewhat disconcerting, but Ruby decided to press on. "But yeah, is there anything you wanna do?"

"No," Weiss replied without looking up. She placed the pan on the drying rack, and started washing the glasses.

"O-Oh," Ruby replied. Strangely crestfallen, she sat at the table with her chin in her palm. Why was this girl capable of making her feel this way? She had just met her yesterday, and normally Ruby didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to others opinions. So why was this strange girl capable of controlling her emotions so effortlessly?

"But," Weiss said, breaking the silence, "I am open to… you say, suggestions?"

"S-Suggestions?" Ruby asked. Weiss was looking at her now, and Ruby thought she saw a hint of concern in her Alice-blue eyes. "Well uh…"

She said the first thing that came to her mind. "We could go take a walk? There's a park nearby and—"

"Yes. Mne nravitsya, chto."

Ruby smirked. "I uh, don't speak Russian remember?"

Weiss shook her head. "It means nice. That sounds nice. Like that, you see?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I see. That uh, that sounds nice. A walk in the park, you know?"

Weiss smiled at her. "Yes. Nice."

Ruby fought down a blush at the sight of that smile, at the sight of that perfect, beatific smile that was making her heart pound uncomfortably fast and her palms to get uncomfortably sweaty.

Suddenly her actions caught up with her, and her eyes went wide as Weiss turned away to put the glasses back in the cupboard.

_A walk in the park? With her? What are we gonna talk about? What am I gonna say? _

* * *

"S-So uh, nice night," Ruby said.

"Why do you stutter when talking to me?" Weiss asked.

Ruby scratched the back of her neck as they walked through the quiet park outside her apartment complex. The moon was full and bright overhead, and moonlight streamed through the trees and made beautiful patterns on the grass. The air was comfortably warm, and all in all it was a perfect night for a walk.

Or it would have been, if Ruby had any clue at all what to say to the strange, beautiful girl beside her.

"Well I guess I just get nervous around you, if I'm being honest."

"Honest? Hmmph. Not many are honest in this country."

"Ye_aaa_h. You've kind of got a point. But honesty is a big thing in my profession actually. I've never lied or anything about my job, and I'm pretty proud of that."

Ruby suddenly stopped walking. "Oh. Wait. Nevermind, scratch that."

Weiss turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I uh, I kind of… well that is, you were the first time I've ever lied about my job. Or on my job, or whatever. You know what I mean."

"You lie for me?"

"Yeap. You see, technically you were loitering, and trespassing on private property. I should have took you to jail that night. I mean, if I had followed the rules. But I lied and said I didn't find anyone, and took you… took you home instead."

Weiss stared at her in confusion. "If you value your… what is the word? Not lying?"

"Honesty?" Ruby ventured. She resumed walking down the path, and Weiss fell into stride beside her.

"Yes. If you value your honesty, why did you lie for me?"

Ruby shrugged. "I guess I just kind of felt bad for you. You looked really, I dunno, sad and hopeless. Like abandoned, like you needed somebody's help but nobody would take the chance to try and help you. I've always liked helping people, and you definitely looked like someone who needed help."

Weiss nodded. "That makes sense."

Ruby took a chance, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear while saying: "Also, you're really beautiful."

Weiss coughed and looked away, but Ruby could have sworn she saw a blush on the strange girl's face.

_Well at least she knows what the word beautiful means. Oh man I hope I didn't just screw things up. I hope she didn't take that the wrong way… or the right way, I don't even know…_

"You said your name was Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. Wait, wow you remember that? You were still in your state of shock or whatever that was."

Weiss frowned and looked straight ahead. "I was not in shock. I just did not care anymore."

"You didn't care? About what?"

"Anything."

"Oh. Wow." Ruby bit the inside of her cheek. "Do you uh, do you wanna tell me why? Like why you don't care anymore?"

Weiss' answer was firm and harsh, made only harsher by her jagged accent. "No. I do not."

Ruby didn't say anything in response; she didn't think she _could_ say anything in response to that.. She glanced at Weiss, only to find the girl still staring straight ahead with that constant frown she seemed to wear. She wore it so well, Ruby wouldn't have been surprised if she was born with it.

They strolled along silently for several minutes, and were nearing the end of their circuit around the park when Weiss spoke again.

"Perhaps one day, Ruby, I will tell you my story. But I do not trust you. I do not trust anyone. So I will remain silent."

"You're uh, I mean technically you're speaking right now. You're not really being silent."

Weiss glared at her, but Ruby was just glad that she was looking at her again. For some reason, when Weiss deliberately avoided her gaze it sent a pang of hurt into her chest.

"Are you always this annoying?" Weiss asked.

Ruby grinned. "Yeah, pretty much. It's one of the reasons I became a cop. Lets me get away with it."

Weiss snorted in derision.

They reached the apartment complex, and Ruby unlocked the door and stood aside to let her guest in. Once inside, the brunette flopped down on the couch and turned on the tv. Five minutes later, she was so lost in it that she didn't even notice Weiss standing behind her until the girl spoke up.

"Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What's up?"

Weiss was standing beside the couch with her arms crossed, staring at her with what looked like apprehension. "How long will I stay here?"

"Oh," was Ruby's simple reply. She had honestly been avoiding that topic until now; she didn't necessarily want Weiss to leave, but she didn't' know if the girl wanted to stay either. It didn't seem like she had any other place to go, but you never knew.

"Well uh," Ruby said carefully, "how long do you want to stay here? Do you have somewhere else to go?"

Weiss said nothing for several seconds, but then shook her head no.

"Ah. Alright well… do you think you can get a job?"

Weiss looked down at the floor. "Maybe. Do you want me to get a job?"

Ruby looked at her in puzzlement. "Uh, yeah? That's what people normally do, get jobs so they have money to buy stuff. Kind of what we do here in America," she chuckled.

Weiss sighed and looked back up at her. "Then yes. I will go and get job. Do you want me to leave tonight, or tomorrow?"

The look in Weiss' eyes and the tone of her voice, coupled with her question sent a jagged spike through Ruby's heart, and she scrambled to correct herself. "No, no, no! That's not what I meant at all! Like holy crap, I meant you can stay here until you get a job or find a new place to live! Not that you have to leave!"

Weiss looked surprised. "O-Oh. You mean that? You are being… honest?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile at her. "Yeah. I'm being honest. You can stay here as long as you like. I like having you here."

She clamped her mouth shut and averted her gaze to the television. _Holy crap, did I really just say that?"_

"Okay," came Weiss' reply after several long seconds of silence. "I will try to find job. Thank you for letting me stay here."

Ruby found the courage to look at her, and found Weiss staring off to the side with what could have been the beginning - or ending - of a blush.

"Y-Yeah, it's no problem at all. Hey uh, do you… do you wanna watch some tv with me? There's this really cool show I'm watching and-"

Weiss immediately sat down on the small, two-person couch next to her, and her close proximity caused Ruby to forget how to properly employ spoken language. Up close, Ruby could see that even through the zits and blisters - that were already clearing up - the girl was even more beautiful than she had first thought.

Ruby turned her head back to the television and tried to concentrate on the show. With Weiss right next to her, she was failing miserably. The white-haired girl eventually relaxed her posture and leaned slightly back into the cushions, and Ruby relaxed a little in turn.

"Ruby?"

The brunette jumped a little. "Y-Yeah?"

"I like staying here too."

Ruby had even more difficulty concentrating on the show after that.

* * *

_**Credit for the idea and the cover image goes to Moekumo from tumblr. Expect multiple chapters, and thanks for reading. Drop a review if you liked it!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby nervously drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, her mind a million miles away. It had been a little over a month since she had met Weiss, and things were… nice. Very nice. Ruby couldn't remember a time when she was this happy coming home. No, that wasn't entirely true. It had been years since she last thought of this, and she wasn't about to start foolishly chasing after the ghost of her past again. She was better now—it was over.

Shaking her head vigorously to clear her head, Ruby reigned in her train of thought and focused on her current source of happiness: Weiss. Helping the other woman recover brought new purpose and meaning to Ruby's life. Her expenses may have gone up, but she made more than enough to support both her and Weiss comfortably. Simple things that never occurred to Ruby, or rather things she never bothered to pay attention to, became apparent.

Plates, utensils, and other kitchen-wares were purchased the moment Ruby was free. The supermarket was a circle of hell Ruby never wanted to return to, but she made it out alive and it was all thanks to Weiss. And truth be told, Ruby was starting to get sick of take-out and microwave dinners.

The white-haired woman was, for a lack of better words, spectacular. Everything she did was done with a certain_ je ne sais quoi_ that Ruby couldn't quite place her finger on. And like a prima ballerina effortlessly crossing her grand stage, or a snowflake swaying with the wind, Weiss flitted through the small apartment—and Ruby's mind—with grace and poise.

"One coffee with cream and five sugars," chimed a familiar voice.

Ruby jumped in her seat, startled out of her wits, and glared furiously at the perpetrator. "Penny!" she yelled, her heart racing in fright. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop popping out of no where?"

"But I was talking to you for the past five minutes," Penny replied with a perplexed expression.

"You were? Oh," Ruby said settling down. She scratched the top of her head and leaned back into her seat. "Sorry, I've been pretty out of it lately."

"Want to tell me what's on your mind, friend?"

"Eh, I dunno." Penny handed Ruby's coffee and watched her take a tentative sip. "It's kind of personal…"

"You can tell me anything!" the ginger haired woman chirped. "That's what friends are for, and we're the bestest of friends."

"I've known you for two weeks."

"Bestest of friends!"

"You can keep saying it, but that doesn't make it true," Ruby grumbled in annoyance.

Penny was about as green as greenhorns could get, and Ruby was unfortunately assigned to show her the ropes. The bright orange-haired woman was about Ruby's age, give or take a few months, and so far the best word she could use to describe her her was "unique".

The reasoning behind it was simple enough to comprehend, if not a little mean. Penny was amazingly athletic, versatile, and intuitive, all traits that would benefit her career in the long run. But the downside was that she had the common sense of someone trying to learn how to be human. Ruby knew there was a story behind Penny's "peculiarities" and it made her a little more tolerant, yet when she pulled stunts like these it made Ruby reconsider her standing.

"Can we just forget I said anything?"

"But you haven't said anything," Penny replied, blinking in confusion.

"Perfect!" Ruby exclaimed. "Let's get going then."

"You do know you've been making this extremely troubled face the entire time, right?" Ruby opened her mouth to deny the allegation, but after catching a glimpse of her reflection in Penny's clear emerald eyes she stopped. "Putting all jokes aside, friend, I'm here and willing to listen."

The sincerity in her voice put Ruby at ease. So in a last ditch effort to retract her earlier statement, Ruby asked, "Promise you won't judge?"

"I'll leave the judging to the judges," Penny laughed, "but if this is illegal I'm gonna hafta cuff'ya!"

"Wait, what?"

"Was my 'joke' ineffective?"

"No," Ruby deadpanned, "it was just bad."

* * *

Ruby walked down the path between the parking lot and her apartment, feeling like a ghost in a shell of a body. The morning sun felt like oppressive and bitter, and the birds chirping overhead only sounded like jesters mocking her. And to make matters worse, the conversation she had with Penny still weighed heavy on her mind, draining what little energy and brain power she had left.

But when she pushed open the door to her apartment and stepped inside, she put on a bright smile for the person that waited for her to come home. Weiss sat with her chin in her palm at the small table in the living room, tapping her slender fingers. A small meal sat on the table, just enough for two people.

"Hi Weiss," Ruby greeted, her voice hoarse. "What'd you cook today?"

Weiss smiled. "Pirozkhi. You haven't try it before. Bread buns stuffed with meat and vegetables."

"Sounds delicious. I'll be right back after I change."

"Of course."

Ruby walked into her room and closed the door, then began the tiring process of changing out of her work clothes. The bed looked awfully inviting, but she wanted to spend time with Weiss more than she wanted to sleep. That bed would always be there. Weiss might not.

She re-entered the living room in a baggy t-shirt and a pair of shorts and sat down at the table to a raised eyebrow from Weiss.

"Do you wear anything beside big clothings?" the white-haired girl asked.

"Eh, they're comfortable," Ruby replied with a smirk. "When you're wearing a bulletproof vest all night, stiff clothes just don't feel good when you're trying to relax. Besides, who am I trying to impress?"

She quickly buried herself in her food as she realized that she was actually trying to impress Weiss, but didn't want to say so. She didn't want to scare the other girl off. She seemed so fragile and delicate, like a flower that would wilt and crumble if you clutched it too hard.

"Well how was the night?" Weiss asked.

"Mmmph." Ruby held up her finger and swallowed another bite of her pirozkhi, which was as delicious as anything Weiss made. All of her meals were traditional Russian dishes, but they were fantastic and something Ruby hadn't had much of before.

"It was meh," Ruby said when her throat was clear. "Some guy tried to shoplift a pair of Affliction jeans, and when someone saw they called us in and we caught him. And then it turns out he also had a bunch of meth in his pockets. Like, how stupid do you have to be? Oh yeah, I'm gonna go shoplift and possibly get arrested. Better make sure I have all my illegal drugs on me while I do it."

"He sounds like he has problem with brain," Weiss deadpanned. "Most Americans I have met so far seem to be that way."

"Oof, but what about me?" Ruby asked in mock dejection.

Weiss grinned. "You are exception as far as I can tell."

"As far as you can tell? You've been living with me for a whole month now…"

"You say… the jury is still deciding?"

"It's 'the jury is still out on that one.' It means the decision is still up in the air. But really? You can't tell by now that I'm not some deadbeat with half a brain?"

Weiss took her time chewing and swallowing, then answered. "I am teasing you Ruby. You are my favorite American by far."

Ruby blushed and had to focus on her food. Eventually she raised her head again, and while Weiss was eating, she took an opportunity to study the girl's face. It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous like sculpted ice. The discoloration was completely gone, and Ruby could tell that her figure was filling out again as well, now that she was eating again.

And even better, her eyes were different too. When she had found Weiss they had been empty and dull, like unpolished glass. But now they seemed to shine a bright, clear blue. The sight made her smile.

"Your smile. What is it for?" Weiss asked.

"O-Oh, nothing, this food is just super good!" Ruby laughed. "Mmm, so at work today, Penny and me got this st_uuu_pid call for a cat stuck up a tree. I'm not even kidding you, it was _literally_ just a cat stuck up a tree. Someone called us for a domestic incident, but it was really just some dude and his girlfriend fighting over how to get this thing down. Dude was afraid of heights and his girlfriend was afraid of cats. Penny was trying to understand how to process the whole thing, and I had to stop her from actually writing an incident report."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why would you stop your… friend from writing a report?"

Ruby recoiled in mock surprise. "Sheesh, are you kidding? Do you know how much stupid paperwork this job already involves? A ton, all so we can't get sued if someone takes us to court for being abusive or some crap. So anyway Penny is trying to take down the whole thing, and I actually had to grab her pen from her and hide it. I swear that girl is one of the craziest people I've ever met."

"But you work with her," Weiss deadpanned without looking up. "So you must like her."

Ruby cocked her head to the side as she put down her fork; she had finished with dinner. "Huh? No, it's not like I have a choice or anything, I just got assigned as her training officer for a while. And I mean I guess I like her, she's really not all that bad once you get past her strange way of speaking. She's really upbeat and positive, and almost overly friendly. But I guess that isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Ruby sighed and rested her chin on her hand, then stared out the living room window at the rising sun. "So huh, yeah I guess I kind of like her. She's a pretty cool person."

With the light of the sun in her vision she didn't notice Weiss' frown, or the way the other girl narrowed her eyes at the last statement. She was too busy thinking about what they could do together; tomorrow was one of her days off.

She loved taking Weiss to new places, seeing how the girl reacted, finding out what she liked and what she didn't. The girl was still a puzzle, but one Ruby felt she was beginning to figure out, piece by piece.

It must have rained recently, although Ruby didn't quite remember it. The sun sparkled off of the water droplets on the window, and the brunette had a sudden idea.

"Hey Weiss," she asked, turning her head to face the other girl with a bright smile. "You ever been to an aquarium?"

* * *

Ruby eyed the map of the aquarium critically. "Alright, so they've got… the shark exhibit, the deep sea exhibit, the seals, the tropical fish, and the freshwater exhibit. Exits are…" She pointed them out to Weiss one by one, who was watching over her shoulder. "Here, here, here, _aaa_nd here."

"Why do exits concern you?" Weiss questioned.

They were in the lobby of the aquarium, a large open space with ocean designs on the walls, a few glass tanks with various fish in the center, and a large whale skeleton hanging overhead. People milled around them in large and small groups, the shrieks of children competed for attention with the quieter conversations around them, and Ruby did her best to look inconspicuous. She was off-duty, but she still kept her service pistol concealed under her shirt. The way she thought of it, a cop was never truly off duty.

"Eh, it's a cop thing," Ruby said. "It's kind of subconscious by now. In case there's an emergency or a gunman or something, you always need to know the ways in and out of a place."

"Smart," was the white-haired girl's terse reply.

Ruby smiled. "Yeap. Let's get going!"

She grabbed Weiss' hand without thinking and led her out of the aquarium lobby and into the deep-sea exhibit. Her actions caught up with her as she realized how smooth and warm Weiss' hand felt, but it would be too awkward to let it go now. She felt her cheeks heat up, and a small smile graced her face.

Weiss didn't say anything, didn't object, and didn't let go of her hand.

* * *

"Ooh, look at that guy! He's got so many teeth!"

Ruby peered through the glass, nearly pressing her face against it. The shark on the other end swarm toward her, and Ruby got a fantastic look at it's six rows of razor sharp teeth before it turned away and swam the opposite direction.

"And oh, look at that one! I think he's called a sawtooth? Look at all the crazy teeth on his long nose thing! I wonder if they're sharp…"

She turned to find Weiss staring at her in apparent amusement. The other girl wore a grin in a fantastic way, and her eyes were lit up like Ruby couldn't ever remember seeing.

"What's so funny?" Ruby laughed.

"Nothing," Weiss replied, then stepped closer to the glass and peered into it. "You are funny when you get excited, that is all."

"Oh am I? Well what about you, I haven't seen you get excited yet!"

Weiss smirked. "Ruby. I am excited."

Ruby's mouth made a little 'o,' and then she turned back to the shark tank. In front of her, a group of leopard sharks circled around each other in a tight ballet.

"Ooh, that's so cool."

"You like sharks?" Weiss asked from beside her.

"I mean yeah, as much as I like any other animal. They're pretty awesome, as far as fish go. I'm not normally a huge fan of them, but sharks are kind of an exception."

Weiss nodded.

"What about you?" Ruby asked.

Weiss turned and looked at her. "Me? I love sharks."

Ruby laughed. "You love sharks? Why is that?"

"They are sleek and fierce, yes?" Weiss replied, turning back to the tank to watch the graceful predators glide through the water. "They are also misunderstood. They do not attacks humans because they want to eat them, they only mistake them for their prey, which are seals. A human from below the water looks much like seal."

"Huh. Well you know there's a seal exhibit too!" Ruby said. "And you can even eat lunch in this cool cafe that sits overlooking the seal area, so you can eat and watch them and all the cute little otters and stuff."

Weiss stood and crossed her arms. "By the way you speak of it, we would eat there even if I objected, yes?"

"Well, I mean, if you didn't want to… no." Ruby said sheepishly. She stood and rubbed the back of her neck. "But it'd be really cool if you did…"

Weiss raised a white eyebrow at her.

Of course, they ended up eating at the cafe overlooking the seal exhibit. The glass walls allowed them to look down on the elephant seals and the like, and since it was a weekday, the aquarium wasn't crowded at all, allowing them the perfect spot. The tables were small and round, the air was cold and clean, and the food was surprisingly delicious.

"Well cmon," Ruby said through mouthfuls of a chicken sandwich, "at leasht you gotta admit da food ish good.

"Talking with your mouth full is rude in most cultures. I do not believe America is different," Weiss replied.

Then she smiled, and Ruby's heart leapt into her throat. "But you are right. The food is decent."


	3. Chapter 3

The light of the setting sun sparkled and shimmered like burnished gold on the waters of the bay. Seagulls spiraled overhead, and a ruddy orange light colored the trees lining the path Ruby and Weiss walked side by side on. They were taking their time, walking at a leisurely pace from the aquarium back to the parking garage lost in a world of their own.

"So you had fun?" Ruby asked. "It's still kind of hard for me to tell with you."

Weiss smirked. "Why?"

Ruby glanced at the other woman from the corner of her eye, and was caught off guard by how blindingly beautiful she looked in that moment. The fading sunlight danced in her snow-white hair and kissed her flawless face with a warm pastel glow. Ruby had to struggle to remember how to breathe and use the English language, but her thoughts were so jumbled she may as well declare them a new language dedicated to Weiss' picturesque visage.

"W-Well uh, you don't really express yourself I guess," Ruby said while scratching the back of her neck. "You don't smile all that often, so it's hard to tell when you're happy or not. You kind of look… angry all the time. Like, not that that's a bad thing! I mean I think it's kind of cool, because when you do actually smile it makes it so much brighter and prettier—I mean you make everything else pretty with you face, but uh… like, I don't know what I just said… yeah, I'm gonna shut up. Right now. Please ignore me."

Weiss suddenly turned her head the towards the horizon. She didn't immediately speak, but when she did her voice was terse if not a little nervous. "You talk fast a lot when you are excited. So I assume you enjoy today."

"Y-Yeah! That's what I meant to say, I had a lot of fun! With you. I had a lot of fun with you! You know?"

Weiss still didn't turn to look at her, almost as if she was hiding her face for some reason.

"_But that's silly,"_ Ruby thought to herself. "_Why would she be doing that? She probably just likes the sunset."_

"I have fun," Weiss finally answered.

"O-Oh, good!" Ruby managed to say. "That's awesome! I was kind of worried that you wouldn't like aquariums or fish or something. They're not really for everyone you know? Most people stick to zoos. Ooh! Have you ever been to a zoo?"

Weiss shook her head. "No."

"Oh. Huh, you've never been to an aquarium before, you've never been to a zoo, you've never been to like, _any_ of the restaurants I talked about before. You really are from Russia, aren't you?"

Weiss turned her head and narrowed her eyes at her. "You think I lie?"

Ruby waved her hands back and forth. "No! No no, I was just like, I mean it just kind of hit me. I've never really been friends with a foreigner before, so it's just weird for me."

Weiss frowned as they crossed a small bridge over a waterway connecting to the bay. "You think I am weird then."

"No, that's not what I meant either." Ruby smacked her palm into her forehead. "Ugh, why is this so hard! I mean like… it's weird for me because I don't know how Russia works, but _you're_ not weird at all. Does that make sense?"

It took a second, but Weiss nodded hesitantly. "In a way. You don't think I am weird?"

Ruby smiled and took a risk, pulling Weiss into a one-armed hug. "Nope, not at all. I think you're pretty cool."

Weiss stiffened up, but didn't attempt to shrug Ruby's arm off, so the brunette took it as a small victory.

"So you ever been to a movie theater?"

"No."

"Seriously? Wow, we are totally going sometime. How about the beach?

Weiss shook her head. "No."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "Have you ever been camping? Hiking? Snowboarding?"

"No, no, and I do not know what last one is."

"It's like uh, kind of like skiing, but with a single board attached to your feet instead of two."

"Ah, I have seen those before. But no."

"Wow, what the heck Weiss? What did you do in Russia, live in a barn or something?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ruby regretted them. Weiss frowned, and Ruby clenched her teeth and prepared for the other girl to pull away from her.

But all Weiss said was: "No."

Then they were at the parking garage, and they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor in silence. They had gotten inside Ruby's small black car, started the engine, and were halfway out of the parking garage when Weiss spoke again.

"My father very rich, Ruby. And I lived at his… estate, you would say."

Ruby was shocked. "Wait… you were rich? Like, you had a lot of money?"

Weiss hesitated before responding. "In English you would say… 'extremely'? Extremely rich. Our family used to be royalty, back in old days before the revolutions."

If Ruby had been shocked before, now she was struck dumb. "Wow. Like… wow. What? You were rich? Holy cow, like what happened?"

Weiss' response was, as before, silence.

Ruby fidgeted and fingered the steering wheel as she drove. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Her rigid posture. Her delicate way of eating. Her habit of cleaning things around her. Her aloof nature and cold personality. But then why had she been living in a dump?

After almost three whole minutes, Weiss replied. Ruby had been counting them on the car's time display.

"One day I will tell you why, Ruby. But you must forgive me. I am not ready to tell you."

Ruby grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry about it, I'm sorry for prying if anything. I didn't mean to be pushy."

"You weren't," Weiss replied. "I am just… this subject is… I do not know how to say it in English—but I will tell you. One day."

Ruby laid her hand on Weiss' and gave it a quick squeeze, and the other girl looked at her in shock. Ruby pretended not to notice.

"Don't worry about it Weiss. I can wait as long as you need."

* * *

It was Saturday morning. Ruby was off work, Weiss was sleeping on the couch, birds chirped and chattered outside, and the sun's rays filtered in through the blinds making the shadows they created come alive. It was the perfect recipe for a lazy Saturday morning, free of care and worry.

Or at least it should have been. Ruby's mind should have been peaceful, at ease, happy even. But it wasn't. It was tumultuous like an angry sea, loud and frightening. Her thoughts waged war on her feelings, wave after mighty wave clashing into one another at full force, then splaying back into the murky depths only to rise again more furious than the last.

Ruby was hunched over the small round table she ate on, with sheets of papers spread before her and her pen tapping restlessly on them.

It was tax season. That by itself was bad enough, but it had brought up other unwelcome thoughts when she had been going through them. She had been just about to claim Weiss as a dependent, when suddenly she realized she had no idea if Weiss was actually a legal immigrant. She didn't want to bring it up, at least not yet considering how peacefully Weiss was sleeping.

She bit the inside of her cheek and hypothesized a scenario where Weiss wasn't a citizen. What would happen if someone found her here? Would she be deported? And even worse, after calculating her budget, she found that she was steadily eating into her savings. She didn't make enough to support another person on her own. If she claimed Weiss as a dependent sure, the department would add to her paycheck. But she would have to go through the entire legal process for that, and Weiss would also… have to be a registered US citizen.

There _was _however a third option. Her mother had left her some money behind; Ruby didn't know exactly how much… But no. Those memories were too painful to go digging into. She had Weiss now. She needed to be thinking about the future, not the past. She needed to keep moving forward.

Should she ask Weiss to stop trying to find a job? The older girl was still searching for one, but with her barely passable English and lack of prior job experience it wasn't going too well. And even worse, what if Weiss wasn't a registered citizen, and a potential employer looked just a bit harder into her background records than they should? What if they decided to report their findings?

The idea of Weiss being taken away from her was one she couldn't stand. The mere thought made her stomach drop and her palms start to sweat. She realized now that her feelings for the Russian girl were far more than friendly, but she didn't know what to do about those either. Did Weiss like girls? And even if she did, could Weiss see her in a romantic light?

Taxes, citizenship, budgets, relationships, her mind was full to bursting. She didn't know what to do about _any_ of it.

She was so buried in thought that she didn't notice that Weiss was up until the white-haired woman sat down in the chair opposite her.

"You are worried."

Ruby jolted, barely managing to grip the edge of the table to keep her chair from falling backwards. "Oh fuc—gosh dang it Weiss, you scared the crap out of me!"

Weiss smirked. "Shouldn't police officer have more awareness?"

Ruby let her head drop to the surface of the table, partly to cover up the papers so that Weiss wouldn't see them. She didn't want her to worry; Weiss had been through enough. "Y-Yeah, I just… ugh, sorry. I'm tired."

"On weekend? Normally you are not," Weiss replied.

"Yeah, I know. I've just… I've just got a lot on my mind I guess."

"Like what?"

Weiss' expression was open and honest, like she genuinely cared about Ruby's problems and wanted to help. Ruby sighed, realizing Weiss had a right to know. Well, the right to know _some_ of it.

"Well, just taxes mostly. I've had to do a little budget work, and I realized that I'm starting to eat into my savings."

Weiss looked confused.

"As in I'm not making enough money to support the both of us right now. I could claim you as a dependent and start getting extra money from my job but…"

"But?" Weiss echoed.

Ruby stared the white-haired woman dead in the eye and summoned up all the courage she could muster. "Weiss, are you a legal US citizen?"

Weiss' expression didn't change in the slightest, but an almost imperceptible sadness danced in her eyes. "No. I am not. I… fled to your country. I ran here to escape something."

Ruby waited on baited breath to see if the mysterious woman across from her would reveal anything further, but Weiss just looked down at the table, silent and inscrutable.

Ruby sighed again, heavier this time. "So, yeah. Like, either you have to get a job to make some extra money, or I can claim you as a dependent. But I think you need to be a legal citizen for both of those."

Weiss didn't look up from the table. "I can always leave, you know."

Ruby felt suddenly angry, and she raised her voice, causing Weiss to flinch. "Weiss, listen to me. I'm not going to make you leave. Okay? So stop talking about it. It's _not_ an option."

Weiss met her eyes for a brief second, and Ruby felt her anger fade away at the look she was met with.

Ruby put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I know you're trying to help me out. You've been trying to find work at some pretty sketchy places that don't run background checks, right? Are you gonna keep trying?"

Weiss nodded.

Ruby put her hand on Weiss'. "Just be careful, okay? I worry about you."

Weiss looked down at the hand, then looked up at Ruby. Neither of them said a word for several seconds, then Ruby pulled her hand away.

The brunette coughed. "Okay, um don't worry. I'm gonna figure something. I can cancel my Netflix subscription and stuff. I can totally make this work."

She put on a bright smile for Weiss, and the other woman responded with a small smile of her own.

"Don't worry Weiss. We're gonna be just fine."

* * *

The following Monday Ruby was back at work. She sat in a Wendy's drive-through, restlessly tapping her fingers on the steering wheel while Penny hummed a cheery—and mildly annoying—tune from the passenger side. She had been hooked on a new show about pastel sharks and their megalodon princess, and hadn't stopped talking Ruby's ear off about it. Yet despite her obvious disinterest, Ruby continued to humor Penny's avid fascination by listening and giving short prompts to continue. It was strange, never in her life did she expect to get along with her, but here they were acting like two peas in a pod.

Penny was talking up a storm about the characters. And no matter how "interesting" her story was, her voice merely faded into the background. The constant buzz of Penny's jabbering helped numb the snide thoughts whispering in her ear, and for a single moment Ruby found peace of mind.

She was tired, and it hurt her eyes. It was almost 7:30 a.m.; the sun had risen a few hours ago. A row of trees on the other side of the drive-through lane thankfully shielded her from the harsh morning sun. Cars were slowly filling the streets, and she knew Weiss would be out looking for a job already. She couldn't stop thinking about the other girl. What was Weiss wearing today? What did she look like? What was she thinking? Was she thinking about her too?

Thn radio picked up.

"Five paul fifty-one, code 58 on West Brandon and Juniper."

"Copy that, five paul fifty-one en route," Ruby replied. When she said en route, she really meant that she would wait to get her food, and _then_ be en route.

When Ruby made no move to back out of the drive-through, Penny spoke up. "Shouldn't we go to the call, friend?"

Ruby swiped her finger across the screen of the hard-box computer in between her and Penny. The details of the call were steadily filtering in to her as the dispatcher sent them to her.

"Nah, we're gonna get our food first. Code 58 isn't too serious, most of the time the caller isn't really sure about what they saw."

"Isn't code 58 a suspected assault though?" Penny asked.

Ruby sighed. "Like I said, the caller is probably just freaking out and saying stuff that they _think_ they saw. And I'm pretty dang hungry."

The details scrolled across the screen. The caller saw the incident go down inside a local Spanish restaurant; they were apparently across the street when they thought they saw someone get 'assaulted' by the manager. The suspect was a 6"1' Hispanic male, and the victim was a… 5"4' woman with white hair.

Ruby reacted without a second thought. She threw the vehicle in gear and drove right over the barrier separating the drive-through from the road, clipping one of the trees and destroying a small hedge in the process. They sped out onto the street and Ruby flipped on the sirens. Her heart was pounding in her chest like a jackhammer.

"Is everything alright, friend Ruby? You are acting on irrational impulse, and I think you may have just broken several safety regulations exiting that parking lot. Is it the bathroom? Do you need to 'go'?" Penny asked nervously. "Would you like me to inform you of any public facilities nearby so you may relieve yourself?"

Ruby didn't respond, she didn't have time to. She grit her teeth and pushed down on the gas pedal. Cars in front of her swerved to the left and the right, doing their best to get out of her way. Penny seemed to enjoy the high speeds with the way her face looked, but then again Penny's facial expressions were limited to "sensational" and "error, does not compute".

Within a minute they were at the address. Ruby swerved the vehicle to a halt, threw the door open, and raced across the parking lot towards the restaurant. She didn't stop to see if Penny was behind her or not.

"Please, please, please don't be Weiss," she hissed to herself. She was acting completely on instinct right now—the instinct the protect the most important thing in her life. She couldn't lose her; she couldn't go back to being alone again.

She threw the door open and ran inside with her hand on her pistol. The patrons of the restaurant—what few remained—stared at her with wide eyes.

"Where is she!" Ruby screamed as she skidded to a halt.

"I-In the storage room in the kitchen," one of the waitresses answered shakily. "I don't know what Santiago was doing, but he just started hitting this girl and then—"

Ruby shoved her out of the way and ran through the kitchen. She spotted what had to be the door to the storage room. In a normal situation she would wait for backup, listen in through the door, draw her taser, see where Penny was, or any of a hundred different things she was _supposed_ to do in this situation.

But this wasn't a normal situation. This was _Weiss_.

She slammed through the swinging door with her pistol drawn and at the ready. Inside was a broad, tan man with his back to her, screaming something in Spanish to a girl cowering in the back with her face hidden to her.

Ruby didn't let her momentum bleed off. The man was turning around to face the door when she slammed into him from the side, tackling him bodily to the ground. She wrestled with him for a few moments before she had him in an arm-lock, then brought her cuffs out and secured them around his wrists while he shouted and hollered.

"Shut up!" she screeched. "Stay on the ground! You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of…"

While she was belting out the Miranda rights that she knew by heart, she took a look at the girl cowering in the corner. It wasn't Weiss.

It was a girl with platinum blonde hair, but it was obviously dyed and not natural. Her face was rounder, her wide eyes were brown, and she looked completely terrified.

_It wasn't Weiss. _

Ruby finished the Miranda rights, then shut her eyes and let out a long, deep breath, letting all the tension in her body and the pent-up breath in her lungs out with it. Her voice was calmer when she spoke again.

"Miss, are you okay?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. Get up," Ruby snarled to the man on the ground.

Even though the girl wasn't Weiss, what the man had apparently done—and what she had seen him doing —was absolutely unacceptable. She pulled the man to his feet and started to march him outside.

Penny was waiting for her outside the storage closet looking puzzled. "Ruby?"

"Call it in," Ruby commanded. "And then take care of the girl. I'll handle this guy."

Penny nodded and slipped inside the closet. Say what you would about the orange-haired woman, but she was certainly a fast learner and an even more attentive listener. Maybe that was why Ruby liked her. She saw a bit of her former self in Penny's naivety, and in a world where you can hardly trust the people sworn to protect you, it was nice knowing Penny was right there with her.

Several minutes later the details of the case were emerging. Penny had questioned the girl in the closet as gently as she could. Apparently she had come to the restaurant looking for a job, and when Santiago learned of her complete lack of credentials, he had yelled at her to leave. She had argued and apparently given him attitude, and when she refused to leave he had taken matters into his own hands and tried to force her to leave. She fought back, it turned into a struggle, and Santiago—at least according to his side of the story—had lost his temper and assaulted the woman, dragging her to the backroom to "try to talk some sense into her".

Ruby had a different idea of what he had planned to do to her. He was sitting in the back of her vehicle right now, looking angry and not at all remorseful. She hoped he stayed in jail for a very long time. He already had a history of violence with his employees.

Other officers showed up and took him off of her hands, and soon Ruby was headed back to the station to turn in her vehicle and head home. But she couldn't shake the fear that gripped her heart like an iron vice.

What if it had been Weiss? The white-haired woman was in the exact same situation: looking for a job with little to no credentials. What if someone tried to take advantage of her, tried to force her into something? She could be kidnapped, raped, killed, stabbed, anything. People who were willing to take on illegal immigrants had questionable morals as a matter of course; who was to say what they would do to their employees in exchange for keeping quiet about their citizenship?

Her heart was beating restlessly, she was sweating under her uniform and bulletproof vest, and her fingers tapped an angry beat into the steering wheel. Her eyes glanced nervously back and forth down the street as she drove back to the precinct.

Penny kept shooting nervous glances at her, but she barely noticed. All she could see was Weiss in the backroom of some restaurant with an angry man standing over her, yelling at her to keep quiet as he beat her over and over.

* * *

Ruby waited sleeplessly at her excuse for a dining room table. She managed two hours scrolling through articles on her phone before she accidentally passed out for an hour. She woke up and slapped herself into alertness. She couldn't fall asleep yet; Weiss wasn't home. The poor girl didn't have a car, so she had to take the bus around the city to try and find a job.

And Weiss was doing it all for her… Ruby sighed and put her head in her hands. She had made up her mind as soon as she had gotten back into her apartment. This job search thing was over. She was going to claim her mother's inheritance, no matter how painful the memories might be. She needed it. _Weiss _needed it.

She wouldn't have Weiss out there on her own every day until she hopefully, maybe found a job to support her. She didn't know exactly how much money her mother had left her, but she hoped it was enough for them to be stable until she got Weiss her citizenship. That way she could get a _real_ job.

She sat on the couch and watched mind-numbingly dull cable tv for three hours; she had cancelled her Netflix subscription.

She got up and stretched, picked up that book on her coffee table that she had been meaning to get to for weeks and read that for an hour. She looked at her watch as she put the book down. It was 4:00 pm. Weiss should be getting back soon.

She sat at the table and tapped her fingers for about ten minutes, until she realized that she would go crazy if she kept it up. Her stomach rumbled conveniently right then, and she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since she got back. At least cooking would give her something to do, even if it wasn't so much cooking as it was trying not to burn the apartment down while still producing something edible.

Googling a recipe for pancakes and ending up with a batch of strange, spherical looking dough balls—then eating them—occupied the better part of an hour. As she set her fork down, a nervous feeling settled itself in the pit of her stomach. It was nearly 6:00pm. Weiss should have been back by now.

She spent almost thirty minutes pacing the apartment, trying to figure out what to do. Weiss didn't have a cell phone so there was no way she could call her. She also didn't know where exactly Weiss was looking for jobs; she could be anywhere in the city by now, so searching for her was out of the question. For now.

Thirty minutes later it was 7:00pm, and she was close to hysterics. She hummed a nervous tune and rubbed her arms. Her thoughts were racing like a bullet train, back and forth and to and fro. The image of Weiss alone and cornered by a group of strange men was firmly lodged in her head by now; she couldn't get it out no matter how hard she tried.

She stubbed her toe on the coffee table while she paced around the living room. She hissed in pain and looked down at it, and suddenly her head was strangely clear. She had never been good at waiting. She liked to get out there and do things, to solve the problem and deal with the consequences later. She realized that that was exactly what she needed to do.

She grabbed her keys and was halfway to the door when she heard the sound of it being unlocked from the outside. Ruby stood in the tight little hallway between the kitchen and the front door as it opened. Weiss stepped inside, hung her key by the rack, and turned to face her.

"Ruby? What is wro-"

Ruby tackled her, wrapping her arms around the other woman as tight as she could and pressing her up against the wall. She buried her face in Weiss' shoulder and took deep, calming breaths.

"R-Ruby… what are—"

"Shhh," Ruby whispered.

She felt Weiss slowly reach up and wrap her arms around her waist. Her touch was so gentle. Ruby focused on quieting her mind and letting all of the fear go. Weiss was here, in her arms. She could hear her breathing and feel her heartbeat. She was fine, she was safe. She was _safe_.

She took one last deep breath and let go. She stepped back, and Weiss stared at her in confusion.

"Ruby? What was that for?"

Her accent made it sound like "vat vas that for".

Ruby smiled. "Nothing. I just got really worried about you while you were gone. I responded to a call with a girl with white hair and I kinda, heh freaked out and thought it was you."

Now that Weiss was here in front of her Ruby felt a little silly, and she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean, it seems kinda stupid now, huh? I kinda freaked out, sorry."

Weiss stared at her for a second longer, but Ruby didn't miss the smile perking up the corners of the white-haired woman's eyes.

"It fine Ruby. I missed you, too."

"Y-You did?" Ruby asked, feeling her heart beat a little faster.

Weiss nodded and moved to the kitchen. "Of course I miss my favorite American. _Chto eto valovoy_, what is this!"

Ruby followed her eyes to the mess of batter and flour on the kitchen counter. "Oh crap! I uh, made pancakes earlier. Or I tried. And I guess I forgot to clean it up…"

Weiss glared at her and pointed to a dish rag near the sink. Ruby grinned, embarrassed, and picked it up. She began scrubbing the counter clean while Weiss put the various bowls and utensils she had used into the sink.

"How did you survive before you had me," Weiss muttered as she started loading the dishwasher. "I swear you are like pig in sty sometimes. Always leaving mess. Never cleaning up."

"Hey!" Ruby giggled. "I clean up my messes! I mean it might take me a while. Or a few days. But I always clean up after myself."

"I remember how apartment was when I first got here. Weapon parts and old food everywhere. _Prezrennyy_.

"Hey no fair? What does that mean?"

"Find out yourself," Weiss replied. The white-haired woman closed the dishwasher and turned it on, filling the apartment with a dull rumbling noise. She turned around and leaned back against the counter as Ruby finished wiping it.

"You were out pretty late," Ruby said, turning to face Weiss. "Like later than normal. That's why I got worried."

Weiss' expression fell. "I tried hard looking for a job but… nothing. I found nothing, nobody would take me, no experience and no citizenship. It's big problem here."

Ruby looked at the floor. "Yeah, businesses are really stingy about that kind of thing ever since the state government started cracking down on illegal immigrants. But I've got good news."

"Good news?"

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "You don't have to look for a job any more. I'm just gonna crack into the inheritance my mom left me. It should be enough to get us by for a while until we can get you citizenship."

"You.. get me citizenship?" Weiss asked. Ruby couldn't miss the tiny glimmer of hope in her eye. "You want me to stay?"

"Well of course I want you to stay silly. So don't worry about getting a job anymore, I've got it covered."

Weiss frowned and crossed her arms. "You're sure?"

"Yeap, totally. Don't you worry about a thin- thi-" She tried to suppress a yawn, but failed.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "You have slept today, yes?"

"Um, yeah totally."

The white-haired woman walked over and poked her in the chest. "No lying."

"I mean I… yeah, you're right. I haven't slept yet. I was too worried about you to sleep."

"Sleep now. No excuses."

"Oh c'mon, but I was thinking we could stay up and—hey!"

Weiss grabbed her by the arm and forcefully pulled her to the bedroom. Ruby could have overpowered the other girl with her training and conditioning, but it was Weiss, so she didn't even put up a fight. Part of her was imagining what _else_ Weiss might be doing by pulling her to the bedroom, but she quickly shut those thoughts out.

Once they reached Ruby's bedroom Weiss clutched her by the shoulder and pushed her down onto the bed.

"Weiss, what are you—"

"Clothes off. Now."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "B-But-"

"Sleeping clothes. _Pizhama_, pajamas. Where you keep them?"

Ruby hesitated, then pointed to the top drawer of her dresser. Weiss opened it and pulled out Ruby's pajama pants and a black tank top, then tossed them at the brunette.

"I leave," Weiss said as she moved to the doorway. "When you are changed, tell me."

Ruby nodded, too tired at this point to do anything but comply. Weiss stepped outside and closed the door. She slipped out of her work clothes and threw them into a pile in the closet, changed her underwear too, then slipped on the tank top and pajama pants. They were white with pink polka dots—she had always found them adorable.

"Okay Weiss, you can—" she yawned again, covering her mouth, "you can come in."

The door opened and Weiss walked inside. Ruby sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well? Lay down," Weiss commanded.

Ruby smirked, confused, but did so. She slipped under the covers and Weiss promptly strode over and pulled them up to her shoulders, then tucked her in. Ruby had to stifle a giggle. Weiss was _actually_ tucking her into bed. The white-haired woman finished, then looked at her. Her uncomfortably gorgeous face was dead-set and completely serious.

"You are… what is word, comfortable?"

"Yeah," Ruby said with a smile. "Comfortable."

"Good. Now hush. I sing song to help you sleep. Mother used to do it for me, and it always help. I consider myself decent singer."

Ruby's eyes went wide. Weiss could sing?

Weiss sat down on the bed. She opened her mouth and a gentle tune drifted out and filled the room. It was the clearest, most beautiful thing Ruby had ever heard in her life, like pure spring water on a mountaintop. To say Weiss was a decent singer would like saying Picasso was a decent painter. The girl had a voice an angel would be jealous of.

She sang in Russian, but there was such raw emotion and longing in the song that Ruby found herself able to follow along with no difficulty at all. And when Weiss changed the tune and started singing slower, softer, Ruby found herself not so much drifting into sleep, but being pulled into it. The song was a siren's call, dragging her down into the realm of dreams and memories. She couldn't resist it.

She was half-asleep, barely conscious when Weiss finished her song. Before she faded into blissful oblivion she felt the gentle touch of Weiss' lips, warm and soft on her forehead.

And then all was black.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby took a deep breath, letting the rich scent of her hot vanilla latte fill her senses. For a split-second, all was calm. The background noise of the Starbucks she was in was less than noticeable, the air conditioning felt fantastic, and she was just lifting the coffee to her mouth to complete the moment when it was all shattered.

"So what flavor of coffee did you get friend! Is it chocolate? Strawberry perhaps? Or maybe you went with vanilla?"

Ruby took a deep breath and an even deeper gulp of her coffee, ignoring the way it burned down her throat. She set the drink down on the small two-person table in the corner of the room. "Yes Penny. It's vanilla."

"Ooh, I love vanilla! Did you know that vanilla comes from a vine-like orchid plant that only grows vanilla beans when the orchid flower is pollinated? And that Starbucks accounts for two percent of all coffee bean production worldwide? I find it quite interesting honestly, I think that the only reason-"

Ruby held up her hand. "Penny. Please. We've only got an hour left and my brain is fried. Can you just... keep the talking to a minimum?"

Penny didn't appear fazed in the slightest. "Whatever you wish friend. If silence is what you desire, silence is what you will get."

The orange-haired woman faced directly forward and stared at the wall. She brought her coffee to her lips and sipped, but made no other movement. She didn't even blink. Ruby completely at that moment understood why the other officers whispered about her being a robot.

She rested her head on her hand and focused on enjoying the silence. Or at least Penny's silence. There were still quiet conversations going on inside the coffee shop, but they were only background noise. Then she remembered she hadn't called in her break yet.

"Ugh, crap. I forgot to go code 7."

Penny still didn't move. Ruby frowned and thumbed her radio. "Dispatch, this is five paul fifty-one. Going code 7."

Some of the other patrons in the restaurant shot her glances, but she pretended not to notice. Being a cop meant she drew all sorts of attention when she was in uniform. Everyone looking at her probably had enough weed in their pockets to get them locked up for possession anyway, and she didn't feel like writing any more incident reports that night.

"Copy that five paul fifty-one," came the quiet voice from her radio.

Ruby sighed, looked down at her swirling coffee, then took another sip. It didn't invigorate her like it used to. Probably because she had practically binged the stuff for the past six months just to stay awake on patrol.

She looked up Penny, who was still staring dead ahead. "Penny, you can talk again," she muttered.

Penny's eyes locked on to her. A grin immediately stretched it's way across the strange woman's face. It was almost creepy. "Thank you friend! I was wondering how long you would have me maintain my silence for this time."

"This time?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "I've done this before?"

"Yes, you had me do it precisely an hour and forty-eight minutes ago."

"Geez, maybe I'm actually losing it then. I don't remember that at all."

"Do not worry at all Ruby. It is just your overworked brain being unable to properly process and store all of the information your senses send it. Did you know the neurons in your brain-"

Ruby held up her hand for what felt like the fifteenth time that night. "Penny, can we just talk about something else?"

The other woman tapped her chin. "Of course! But hmm... what should we talk about? Maybe we can talk about the SWAT teams? They're so admirable and efficient and-"

"You're just saying that because they went and breached that house we staked out yesterday. And you're probably just butthurt that they wouldn't let us go in even though we were the ones that got the warrant."

"Butthurt?" Penny stood up, felt her rear end, then sat back down. "I'm sorry, but I assure you that my butt does not hurt at all."

Ruby chuckled and said nothing.

"So if not SWAT, what do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno really," Ruby replied, taking another sip of her coffee. She grimaced. It was already half empty. "What do _you_ wanna talk about?"

"Well..." Penny suddenly lit up like a light bulb. "Oh! I know!"

"Yeah?" Ruby drawled.

"Yes! Who are you taking to the ball?"

Ruby jerked, almost knocking her coffee off of the table. "W-Wait, the ball? Is that soon or something?"

"Did you not see the posters silly? It's in a month! They're already selling tickets actually. This is going to be my first one! I've heard these types of social functions are quite enjoyable and allow for proliferous social interaction, although I must admit I am still nervous."

Ruby's mind was racing. "Yeah... it's gonna be my first one too..." she muttered.

"I know!" Penny exclaimed. "You can take me! We can go as partners and friends!"

Ruby exhaled. "I'm sorry Penny. You're an awesome person and all and I've love to go with you, but I've already got someone in mind."

Penny's expression turned quizzical. Ruby tried to pretend she hadn't seen a glimmer of hurt in her eyes. "Really? Oh, is it that woman you started living with two months ago? Are you taking her?"

Ruby's thoughts turned to Weiss, and before she knew it she was smiling. "Yeah. Yeah I'm gonna take her. I mean if she says yes of course, I don't know if she'd want to go to this kind of thing, or if she'd even want to go with me, oh and then we'd have to find a dress, and like are we going as friends or something more and I don't know, but I don't know if I should ask her because-"

"Friend Ruby, please cease your monologue."

Ruby felt something warm on her hand, and saw Penny's resting gently on top of it. She thought of how she had done the same to Weiss and it felt unfaithful somehow, so she flashed Penny a brief smile but then pulled her hand back. "Ugh, sorry. I just – I don't know where she and I stand. I mean..."

"Well do you like her?" Penny asked.

Ruby stared into what remained of her coffee. "I... yes. I like her a lot. Romantically and stuff. I get this crazy warm feeling when I'm around her and my throat starts choking up. It's weird and I don't really like it, but I like _her_ so..."

"Simple then. Just ask her. If she likes you too she'll say yes. If she doesn't, she'll say no. Your problem is solved either way!"

Ruby dropped her head into her hands. "Penny, it's not that simple..."

"Is it not?"

"No," Ruby muttered.

"Ruby, my friend, you are simply making it difficult."

The brunette sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "Fine, whatever you say. Ugh, I still have to go to the bank when our shift is over before I can go home."

_Home._ When she had thought of returning home about three months ago, it was only a place to rest before she found herself at work again. It was simply a place to lay her head, nothing more. Home meant loneliness and boredom. She hadn't liked going home. Now things were different. Now, going home meant seeing Weiss. It meant that fluttering feeling in her stomach, that warmth in her chest. It meant smiling and laughing and spending time with the woman she cared for most in the world. Going home was something she actually wanted to do now.

"Ruby? Friend Ruby?" Penny was waving a hand in front of her face.

Ruby jolted again, and this time she actually did knock over her coffee cup. Thankfully it was empty this time around. "S-Sorry. Man I don't even know where my head is today."

Penny cocked her head to the side with a confused expression. "On top of your body?"

Ruby chuckled. "That's not what I meant. Anyway it's almost been thirty minutes. We should get back on patrol for our last half hour before we head back to the station."

She stood up, and Penny followed suit. As they walked towards the trash to throw away their cups, Penny turned toward her. "Ruby, you never answered my question. What do you need to do at the bank? You normally just head straight home, so this deviant behavior is strange for you."

Ruby sighed and tried to remember that while with anyone else it would be prying, Penny was simply naturally curious. She cut the other woman an according amount of slack. "Let's just say someone left me some money. An inheritance kinda. I'm just gonna talk to the bank and find out how much it is."

"Oh, well that's interesting," Penny replied. She held the door open for Ruby, and they exited the coffee shop and headed out into the too-bright dawn towards their police cruiser. "Was it a close relative? You never talk about your mother actually, was it her?"

"Nah," Ruby lied, feeling a sharp pang of hurt at the mention of her mother. "It's just one of my distant uncles."

* * *

Ruby pushed the key into the slot, turned it, and pushed the door open. Weiss was waiting on the other side, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

Ruby froze. "Uh... hi Weiss? Is there something you wanted?"

Weiss glared at her, and Ruby shrunk back. "You leave mess. In living room. Chinese delivery boxes _everywhere_. I tell you again and again, clean clean clean. You want us to get ants? Because that's how you get ants."

Ruby grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Eh heh, yeah I honestly just forgot before I left for work..."

"You pass right through living room on your way out of apartment!" Weiss exclaimed. She was blocking the hallway, refusing to let Ruby pass.

"Weiss, I'm sorry okay. I really didn't mean to. You know me, sometimes I just forget stuff."

Weiss had been opening her mouth to respond with something undoubtedly snippy, but Ruby stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug before she could. "I missed you," Ruby muttered.

The snowy-haired woman's arms, which had been in the process of raising themselves to point at and reprimand Ruby, fell to her sides. Then, slowly, they raised back up and wrapped themselves around Ruby's waist.

"I miss you as well. Idiot."

Ruby giggled and released the other woman. "Nice to see you too. _Aaa_nd I've got good new. Wanna hear?"

Weiss gazed at her, looking equal parts suspicious and apprehensive. "Good news? Since when do you come with good new?"

"Since I checked into how much my mother left me."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Is it large sum then? Or small."

Ruby smiled, wide and effusive. "Can you say thirty-two thousand dollars?"

Weiss stared at her for a second, and then her eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"Do you know how much that is?" Ruby laughed.

Weiss nodded. "I studied much when I was growing up. I still remember conversion rates... Ruby, that is almost two million rubles."

Ruby laughed again. "Rubles? Seriously, is that Russian money is called? Rubles, ahahaha!"

Weiss chuckled. "Yes, Rubles. Sounds like your name, I understand."

Ruby looked up at the ceiling for a second, then back down at Weiss. She placed her hands on Weiss' shoulders and stared her dead in the eyes. "Weiss. We're gonna be just fine. For a long time. You don't need to worry about finding a job anymore. We can wait and get you citizenship, we can figure everything out, it's fine. We've got time now."

The other woman stared back at her for a second, and Ruby thought she saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Then Weiss rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her with a strength Ruby didn't know she had.

"Whoah," Ruby squeaked. "You okay?" She returned the embrace.

"I am... I am fine," Weiss whispered. "Thank you. So much. For everything you do for me."

"It's no problem at all," Ruby whispered back.

She felt herself on the verge of admitting _why_ she did it all for Weiss, why she went above and beyond for the other girl, even to the point of finally facing the demons that thinking about her mother conjured. But the moment passed, and Weiss released her. All the same, it was an uncharacteristic display of affection for the white-haired woman, and Ruby was happy. All the worry she had held about the future dissipated, and she could truly smile again.

Weiss turned away and gestured towards the dinner table. "I made you pelmeni. I tried using different spice this time. I hope you like."

Ruby left her work bag by the door. She followed Weiss to the table, sat down, and picked up a fork. "I'm sure I'll love it."

It smelled slightly different, but upon tasting it she found that it was even more delicious than before. "Holy cow Weiss," she mumbled through a mouthful of meat and dough and spices. "This is amazing!"

The other woman smiled. "Good. I am glad. But you are still talking with mouth full."

Ruby snorted and continued eating, and Weiss simply watched her with a patient smile. Conversation started between them as they always did. It never mattered what they talked about; she just liked talking with Weiss. They talked about Ruby's day, Weiss' day, new recipes for food, what they would need from the store. Simple domestic things. Things simple enough to make Ruby smile.

When Ruby finished and put her fork down though, she realized the time had come to ask Weiss the question that had been sitting in the back of her mind since her conversation with Penny.

She cleared her throat. "So uh, so Weiss. I uh... I had something, I mean I have something to ask you."

The snowy-haired woman raised an eyebrow.

"So every year the department has this big ball. Like a dance. You know what that is right?"

Something sparkled in Weiss' eyes, something eerily like a glimmer of recollection and memory, but the other woman simply nodded. "Yes. I know what a dance is."

"So... the dance for my department is coming up in a month. You can go by yourself or you can um, you can bring someone else."

Weiss was silent. Ruby gulped and pressed on.

"So like... would you? I mean would you want to come with me? To the dance I mean, like as my d- partner. My uh, guest." Ruby coughed and tried to cover up the fact that she had nearly asked Weiss to be her date.

Weiss' brow furrowed in skepticism. "You want me to... accompany you? To this dance? You would bring me?"

"I mean like not if you don't want to! I mean Penny asked me and I could go with her if you don't want but-"

Weiss' eyes narrowed at the mention of Penny. "Yes! Yes of course I go with you," she interrupted.

Ruby was momentarily taken aback at Weiss' raised voice. "Um... yeah! Awesome! Oh man, we'll need to get you a dress and stuff - don't worry I just wear my dress uniform - and I'll buy the tickets tomorrow as soon as I get to the station but... wow. Wow, you'll actually come with me?"

"What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"Um... I mean I'm just me. Like I'm just Ruby. I'm not that cool or anything and no one's ever come with me to a dance before so..."

Weiss smiled gently. "Then I will be your first. I have... experience in these things."

"Wait you know how to dance too? Where did you learn all that stuff? In Russia?"

"Yes," Weiss answered perhaps too quickly, and Ruby could tell that the topic was closed. She knew not to push.

"Okay. Wow, this is awesome. I'll um... I'll go get some sleep. I've got work tomorrow so I, well yeah. I need to sleep."

Weiss stood up, taking the plates with her. "Okay. Goodnight Ruby."

Ruby smiled at the other woman's retreating back. "Goodnight Weiss."

She made her way down the hall to her room to the sound of Weiss washing the dishes under the sink. The length of the day hit her, and she struggled out her work clothes and into her pajamas. She flopped down on the bed, not even bothering to try and burrow into the covers. She was asleep within seconds. But it was far from a peaceful sleep.

* * *

She woke suddenly, clutching her sheets tightly in her fingers. The dream still felt real, and it took her a second to realize where she was. The room was cool and quiet and dark, and the only noise was the steady whirring of the ceiling fan. She had thick curtains on her windows to keep the midday sun out; they helped immensely. But the sensation that she felt the most was the pain. She could still feel the pain of her mother as a dull ache, as steady as the drone of the ceiling fan in her chest. She missed her so much. Lonely nights – or technically days – didn't help, even though Weiss was in the apartment as well.

She let out a long sigh and finally relaxed her fingers, then rolled over onto her other side and attempted to fall back asleep.

Several minutes passed. She grunted and rolled over onto her stomach. Several more minutes passed. She tried laying on her back. After about ten minutes of that, she even tried shifting so that her feet were by her pillow and her head was at the foot of the bed. Fifteen minutes later, she came to the conclusion that that wasn't working either.

She simply couldn't stop thinking about her mother. She couldn't stop missing her. After so many years she had expected to be over it by now, but the ache was still there, throbbing and burning like a brand in her mind. Long-buried memories were pulled to the surface, and she was forced to relive them over and over.

The sad ones were bad enough, but the happy memories were the worst. Because each time they ended, she would once again be faced with the bitter reality that she would never see her mother again. She would never get to tell her how her day was, see her smile, hear her laugh, taste her cooking, any of it. Her mother had been her best friend. And now she was gone, nothing more than a collection of memories that tormented her in the night.

She groaned and sat up, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon. Groggily she pushed open the bedroom door, squinting against the light. She walked slowly down the hallway, and realized the quiet noises she was hearing were coming from the television. Weiss must be watching something.

Sure enough the white-haired woman was cross-legged on the couch, with her back straight and her posture somehow still elegant. She apparently hadn't heard Ruby coming, so when she plopped down onto the couch, Weiss shrieked and recoiled.

Ruby laughed even though her throat was dry. "Holy crap Weiss don't freak out, it's just me."

Weiss slapped her on the arm. "Idiot! Why did you sneak up on me! Do you want me to have heart attack?"

She smiled and winced; her eyes were still adjusting to the light. "Sorry. Honestly didn't mean to startle you or anything."

Weiss shifted and settled into a new position, straight and rigid against the back of the couch. Ruby found herself wondering if Weiss ever actually relaxed, and once again wondered why the woman was like that.

"It is fine," Weiss muttered, glancing at her sidelong with what could have been concern. "But why are you up? You should be sleeping."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "Eh, it's nothing. Just having trouble with that. Sleeping I mean."

Weiss stared at her for a few seconds longer, but then nodded and looked back at the tv. Ruby didn't know why she was watching an old show like The Price Is Right, but she supposed it was entertaining enough. She settled into the couch and tried to let the mindless events on the screen absorb her attention.

Not thirty seconds had passed before Weiss spoke up. "Ruby?"

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Ya- yeah Weiss?"

"Is there something wrong?" The concern in her voice, even with her thick accent, was evident.

Ruby smiled and looked down at the floor. "Nothing really. Just my mom. Thinking about her and stuff."

"Would you tell me about it?"

Ruby snapped her head up and stared at Weiss. The other woman's face was open and honest, or as open and honest she could be with the almost-constant frown she wore.

"I mean..." Ruby sighed.

She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. She had to tell Weiss eventually. Yes it would be hard, yes it would be bringing painful memories out in the open and giving them form with words for the first time in almost four years. But if she wanted Weiss to trust her and tell her her own story, didn't she have to give Weiss that same level of trust as well? Her decision was made when she realized that.

"Well," Ruby started, "it's not really that long of a story or anything. It won't... I mean I guess it won't take too long."

Weiss picked up the remote and turned the television off, and silence filled the room. The sun filtered in through the cracks in the curtains and motes of dust hung in the rays, and for a second it almost seemed like time had stopped.

Then Weiss spoke. "I will listen to whatever you say Ruby. You can trust me."

Ruby smiled at her. "I know. Thank you."

Weiss' answering smile made her heart throb. "Okay. Well uh, yeah. So my mom. She was awesome. My best friend. She raised me on her own, cuz my dad walked out on us pretty much right after I was born."

She watched for any change in Weiss' expression while she talked, shooting glances back and forth between the opposite wall, ceiling, and the snowy-haired woman sharing the couch with her. She stopped when she realized she shouldn't have expected one anyway. Weiss' wasn't given to displays of emotion.

"So yeah. My mom was the coolest. She was a cop like me, and the whole reason I joined up. Even when she was tired after a long day she always made time for me. We did everything together. Went to movies, zoos, theme parks, even aquariums. You know the one we went to? "

Weiss nodded, still watching her intently.

"Eh heh, yeah, she took me there first. I still remember it. I think I was... eight? Anyway, she never got mad at me or anything. Sure she disciplined me when I did something wrong, but she was never harsh or unfair. And she always told me how to fix what I did. She was probably the wisest person I've ever met." Her words took on a wistful quality. "I loved her a lot. I still do really."

Ruby paused for the space of a breath. This was the first time in four years she had talked about her mom. And this was certainly the first person she had ever told about what happened to her. She gulped and looked down at the floor.

"She was a cop, like I said. Not at my district, over at another one a few miles south. So one day she's doing a routine traffic stop. Some guy is speeding, going like sixty in a thirty-five or something. She pulls him over, walks up to the car, all that stuff. And he rolls down the window, shoots her, and just drives off."

She paused again. Her voice was quieter the next time she spoke. "They told me she died instantly, but I doubt it. One nine mil round to the chest? You don't straight up die from that. Honestly she probably bled out on the road there for a while. No one got there in time to save her. That's the kind of danger I face in my job Weiss. It fucking sucks, but there are people out there who just hate cops and see us as nothing more than pieces of scum trying to oppress them. No matter where I go, there are going to be people who wanna kill me just because of the uniform I'm wearing."

She started laughing. It was either that or despair. "It was stupid, you know. She's just trying to do her job ya know, normal traffic stop normal day, nothing crazy. She just walks up and then bam! Just like that! Like what kind of fucking douchebag is just gonna shoot a random cop that pulls him over! Like maybe he had meth or prior convictions or a suspended license but…"

She found she couldn't laugh anymore. The pain in her chest was too much. "She sent me off to school that morning and told me that we would go and see some new movie when she came back. I don't even remember what it was. But that day I just – I just – she never came back..."

She sniffed and wiped at the tears trickling down her face. "Fuck. Fuck I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all emotional like this." She rubbed at her eyes. "Urgh. I hate crying. I don't mean to, really. My mom was just... she was just..."

Her breathing came in hiccups. "I l-loved my mom so much, and s-some random motherfucking piece of shit just shot her and took her from me and I – and I –"

The dam she had kept strong for four long years finally broke. And she broke down with it. Bending forward, holding her head in her hands, trying to keep steady as shuddering, wracking sobs shook her body. She didn't want Weiss to see her like this: weak and vulnerable. She was supposed to be strong. Like her mother had been.

The worst of all was the noise she was making. The television was off, so the only sounds were her broken cries and wails of almost animalistic pain and sorrow. She hated the way they sounded. She had almost forgotten Weiss was there in her struggle to get herself under control, but then suddenly a pair of thin, warm arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and gently held her.

Weiss pulled her close to her chest. She almost resisted for a single second, but then gave in completely. The other woman's warmth was a rescue, a lifeline thrown into an ocean of despair that threatened to drown her. She clutched onto the white-haired woman with every last fragment of her strength, burying her face in Weiss' shoulder and sobbing into it.

Weiss started to sing, a gentle, slow tune, and began rubbing her back at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Ruby hissed. "I'm s-sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Ruby," Weiss muttered. "It is okay. I am here. It will be alright."

Ruby clutched her harder and continued to cry. She lost track of how long she spent there, wrapped in Weiss' arms as she broke down every mental wall she had built between her mother and herself over the past four years. She hadn't even cried at the funeral. She had had to be strong then. There had been no one there for her but herself.

But now, now that there was someone here with her, someone who cared, someone who she knew she could trust... As her tears subsided and her body stopped shaking, she could somehow feel that the bond between her and Weiss was somehow much deeper than it had been. Weiss was special now. Weiss was the only person that had ever seen her open and vulnerable. And instead of taking advantage of her, the other woman had simply held her close and whispered to her that everything was going to be alright. She knew she could trust Weiss now, fully and completely.

The tears had stopped, but Weiss still held her tight. Ruby didn't necessarily want to let go either, but she could feel the situation threatening to grow awkward. She gently pushed away from Weiss, sniffing and wiping her nose.

The snowy-haired woman watched her for a second, but then stood up and retrieved a box of tissues from the kitchen. She walked back into the living room and handed them to Ruby without a word.

"Heh, t-thanks," Ruby muttered, using a tissue to dab at her eyes. "Sorry about that. Honestly... honestly that's the first time I've ever cried about my mom. I dunno, I just feel stupid kinda. If I held it all in this long, why is it all coming out now?"

Weiss sat back down next to her. "I do not know Ruby. But it is good you let it all out. It can be... what is word, catharitic?"

"Cathartic," Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. I think I feel better now."

Weiss simply nodded. An awkward silence fell, and Ruby tried to busy herself by wiping her nose with the tissues and trying to ignore the way Weiss was looking at her. It looked almost affectionate. But that couldn't be right. Weiss didn't think of her that way. She couldn't.

Ruby dried the last of her tears and yawned, and with the yawn came the realization that she was tired again, perhaps tired enough to go back to sleep.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes Ruby?"

Ruby blushed and looked down at the floor. "Thanks for that. It uh, it means a lot to me. Like that you were there. When I needed you and stuff. I'm um, I'm gonna go back to sleep. So goodnight."

Weiss smiled at her, but it seemed morose somehow. "Spokoynoy nochi Ruby. Is goodnight in my language."

Ruby grinned and made her way back to her bedroom, but instead of her mother, she simply thought of Weiss. Again she fell asleep as soon as she hit the covers, but this time she slept peacefully for the rest of the day.

And the next thing she knew her alarm was blaring, telling her to get up because it was time for work.

"Uggggh," she groaned. "Whyyy..."


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby fingered her pistol, wrapping her hand around the grip and loving the way it felt. She smiled for a moment. She loved her weapons. Then she made sure it was unloaded, made doubly sure the safety was on, and then put it inside her work bag with tender care and zipped the bag up. She checked her locker to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Of course I'd forget my reports," she muttered as she pulled them from the locker and stuffed them into her bag.

She sighed and sat down on a wooden bench next to her locker, then started flipping through the incident reports she needed to finish.

It had been a long shift – long because absolutely nothing interesting had happened. The night had been an endless string of family fight calls, noise complaints, traffic incidents, and even a drunk man yelling about how the police owed him money – because an unknown officer had evidently tased him three weeks ago and then left him on the side of the road. It went without saying that he had absolutely no proof or evidence.

She had already changed out of her uniform and vest and back into her work clothes: a simple pair of black slacks and a red t-shirt. She was lacing up her sneakers when Penny walked around the corner.

"Salutations Ruby!"

"Hi Penny," Ruby mumbled. "You know we were just on patrol together right? You don't have to greet me like that again."

Penny sat down on the bench across from her. "I know. But this is our last day together. I'm done with on-the-job-training now, so I'll be going on patrol on my own from now on."

"Congrats. You're ready for it, don't worry. You'll do just fine."

"Oh I know. I will just miss going on patrols with my friend."

Ruby grinned and looked down at the floor. "I'll miss it too. It's a lot easier to stay awake when you're talking my ear off. But we always need more officers on the beat, and it'll be good to have you out there too. Anyway, we can always go code 7 and meet at Starbucks or something."

"Ooh, that is true! I did not think about that," Penny replied with a bright smile. "So did you ask your friend to the dance?"

Ruby felt her cheeks heat up at the mention of Weiss. "Yeah. She uh, she agreed. It's in two days right?"

"If they have not changed the date then yes, two days friend."

Ruby smirked. "I think you'll like her. I can't wait for you two to meet."

She didn't mention that the real purpose behind introducing Weiss to Penny was to hopefully dispel some of the white-haired woman's jealousy. It was easy to villainize someone you hadn't actually met, but not so easy once you knew they were a good person. She found the jealousy cute, but she knew it was bothering Weiss. When Weiss' happiness had become her number one concern she didn't know, but she didn't quite care either. It felt nice to look out for someone else instead of just herself for a change.

"Of course! If you like her then she must be an amazing person."

Ruby smirked. "She's certainly something."

"Ooh I'm so excited!" Penny exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "There'll be social interaction, and conversations, and punch, oh and dancing! Friend Ruby, would you honor me with a dance while we're there?"

Ruby hesitated. "I mean... I guess two girls can dance together just fine. But Weiss..."

"I only meant as friends," Penny hurried to explain. "If it's a problem then I shall not push you. I just thought it might be fun."

"Fun huh?" Ruby muttered. "Well the only thing I can give you right now is a maybe. It probably depends on what kind of mood Weiss is in when you ask."

Penny simply nodded and smiled.

Ruby stood up and shouldered her work bag. "I'm gonna head out then. Good luck out there Penny. You're ready for the streets. I mean it."

"Thank you friend. You have trained me well, and I have had much fun in our adventures together."

Ruby stopped in the doorway to the hall that would lead her to the parking lot. "I don't know if I'd call them adventures, but you're right." She turned and shot Penny a grin. "They were definitely fun."

* * *

Two days later, Ruby sat in front of the mirror in her bathroom and ran a brush through her hair one last time. It was no use. The ends remained just as frazzled as before.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "Why can't I get this..."

She stared at her hair. Her eyes roamed around the countertop. A hair clip? Maybe another shower to wet it down again? Should she try straightening it? But all of those would look strange with her dress uniform.

"This is stupid," she growled. "We're like the last freakin' department in the state that actually does a charity ball. No one even does these anymore! Why am I..." the brush got stuck in her hair, and she pulled it and grit her teeth. "Getting so worked up..."

She threw the brush down on the floor. "Screw it! Fine, you're going in a bun!"

"Would you like help?" Weiss spoke up from behind her.

Ruby jumped and banged her knee against the counter. "W-Weiss!"

The white-haired woman laughed. It was warm and soft and musical, and Ruby felt her heart throb a little. She looked down at her knee and poked it, hoping it wasn't bruised.

"You are such a clumsy woman."

"I'm not clumsy, you just surprised me!" She looked up from her definitely-bruised knee.

"Oh wow. Weiss you look..."

The shorter woman did a quick spin in her dress. It was a sleeveless navy blue number that flared out at the knees, with a shallow v-cut neckline and a white sash around the waist. She wore white stockings that went perfect with her hair, and navy blue heels to match her eyes and the dress.

"Well? I look what?"

Ruby closed her mouth. "Wow. I-I mean beautiful! You look beautiful. Or gorgeous. W-Which one do you like better?

Weiss smiled, and Ruby thought she could see the dusting of a slight blush on her cheeks. It could have just been the makeup though. "Both of those words work fine. The dress fits me yes?"

Ruby stood up to get a better look. "It fits you like a gun fits a holster." She smacked herself in the forehead. "No wait... crap that was lame. Sorry."

Weiss only laughed again, which caused Ruby's heart to leap further into her throat.

"You are funny today Ruby. Do not worry, I find it endearing."

Ruby blushed and sat back down. "T-Thanks."

"Now you needed help with your hair no?"

"Oh that. Yeah I just can't really get my hair right. The ends are all frazzled and stuff. I'm just gonna put it up in a bun since I'll be in my dress uniform anyway."

"Your uniform is ready?"

Ruby pointed to the bed. "Yeap, it's all right there. That thing is freaking uncomfortable too. It's like they make them to constrict your body on purpose and feel all tight so that way you can't relax or anything."

"That is probably the point," Weiss replied.

The snowy-haired woman moved behind her and gathered up the edges of her hair, then pulled them together and started braiding them into a bun. Ruby almost expected the tugs on her hair to be painful, but Weiss was soft and gentle with her work. It was like she was afraid of hurting her. It had been so long since someone had touched her like that, and Ruby sighed and shut her eyes. She tried to exist in the moment and forget her nervousness.

"Like that?" Weiss asked.

Ruby opened her eyes in surprise. Weiss was already done; she had apparently lost track of time when she lost herself in the woman's gentle touches. The bun was perfect, better than she had ever been able to do.

"Wow, that looks amazing. You've done this before haven't you?" Ruby answered.

Weiss looked down at the floor. "Yes," she muttered. "Many times. To my sister."

Ruby's eyes widened. "You have a sister? You've never said anything about a sister!"

But Weiss was already halfway out of the room. "We talk too much already. Finish getting ready for the ball. I still must take care of few things. I will meet you in living room."

"O-Okay," Ruby replied. "Sure thing."

She gazed into the mirror but didn't quite see herself. She was busy thinking, wondering, fantasizing about Weiss. Had she been a noblewoman or a princess? She was pretty sure Russia still had royalty. Or maybe she'd been the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She certainly seemed to know her way around the finer things in life, almost like she was accustomed to them.

Ruby frowned. That was one thing she could never give Weiss, even if she gave her her heart. She could never give her a big home or fancy clothes, expensive jewelry or extravagant food. She could only offer herself. Would that be enough? Or did Weiss need more in a person than just that?

Ruby sighed and adjusted the bun last time. Either way, it was almost time to leave for the ball. Maybe if she was lucky she would get a dance with Weiss. That would be enough. She hoped.

* * *

"So with no further adieu ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoy tonight's seventeenth annual charity ball. Thank you."

The police chief stepped off of the podium, and applause filled the resort's conference room. When it finally faded, conversation quickly filled the gap. Officers in their dress uniforms – finally free of the tedious ceremonies preceding the ball – stood up and moved to find their friends. Dates and civilians mixed and mingled, and the clink of glasses and bottles of undoubtedly alcoholic beverages punctuated the dull roar of conversation.

Ruby let out an deep sigh, glad to finally be done with the proceedings of the ceremony that came before the dancing and drinking.

"Holy crap am I glad that's over," Officer Brooks spoke from across the table. It seated eight, including herself, Weiss, Penny, two officers she did know, their dates, and one officer she didn't. Weiss sat to her left and Penny to her right. Introductions had already been made, but where Penny seemed amicable and friendly so far, Weiss was stand-offish and aloof. She hoped it wouldn't be a problem.

"No kidding," the unknown officer replied. "At least this resort we're renting out is better than that crap place we used last year."

"Yeah no shit," Brooks laughed. "That was some high school's gym. I actually found a condom under the bleachers."

Everyone at the table started conversing amongst themselves, and Ruby took the opportunity to look around. It was indeed a nice venue – a resort in the southern, wooded area of their district. The roof was high and the walls were all sculpted oak, giving the place the place a vague log-cabin feel. It was airy and yet somehow cozy at the same time. Potted plants in the corners and dark green ornamentation on the walls only amplified the woodsy feeling the place held. Of course if one looked out the broad windows next to them one would see _actual_ woods, so perhaps that had something to do with it as well.

"-the food is coming soon?"

Ruby blinked as she caught the back end of Weiss' question. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Weiss scoffed, but there was a smile in the twinkle of her eye. "Idiot. I asked when the food was coming."

Penny suddenly leaned in towards the two of them, her uniform immaculate and her hair in a perfect bun. "Excuse me, but do not call my best friend Ruby an idiot. That is rude and uncalled for."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "And who are you again? Some girl Ruby goes on patrol with?"

"Ruby has been my partner for the last three months, and we have become the bestest of friends."

Ruby held up her hands. "Well I don't know about tha-"

"And who in hell do you think you are?" Weiss hissed. "Ruby is my friend first! You do not tell me what I can and cannot call her."

Ruby held up her hands between the two of them. "Holy crap calm down-"

"Oh I assure you I am very calm _friend,"_ Penny replied, but Ruby could see the sparks of anger in her eyes. It was the first time she had ever seen Penny genuinely upset. "The only one not calm here is you, and do not dare take it out on Ruby by calling her a name!"

Ruby winced. By now the entire table, and some of the surrounding ones, were either glancing at them or blatantly staring.

"What I call her is none of your business!" Weiss nearly shouted. "If she does not like it she will tell me so, and she hasn't said anything before! It's not like she hasn't had chance to either, considering I live with her!"

Ruby put her head in her hands. She had brought Weiss here under the facade that the snowy-haired woman was her distant cousin from Russia, not someone shared an apartment with her. "Guys, please just sto-"

"Oh I know all about your living arrangements," Penny hissed. She leaned forward. "Trust me. _Everything_."

Ruby pushed Penny back. "Okay Penny, too far. I didn't tell you about Weiss so you could do this!" she hissed.

The other woman immediately shrunk down. "I-I am sorry, I did not mean to say that."

Ruby waved her hands in front of her. "Sorry everyone, might as well get back to your drinks. Just a stupid argument."

The other officers smiled awkwardly and attempted to restart their conversations.

Ruby turned to her left. "Weiss?"

The heiress was busy glaring at Penny, although even glaring seemed like an understatement. If looks could kill, this one was a 50,000 gigawatt death ray that would have disintegrated Penny down to the last atom.

Ruby put her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Weiss, please just-"

The heiress pushed her chair back and stood up. "I will be back later," she muttered.

Ruby tried to catch her arm but missed. "Weiss, wait!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Penny staring at her with a mix of regret and sorrow. "It would be best to let her go friend Ruby. She might need space."

"Yeah? And what the hell do you know about her?" Ruby dropped her voice to a whisper. "You seriously crossed a line there, threatening her with what you know about our situation. I told you that in complete confidence because I needed someone to talk to about it, not so you could use it as a weapon against her!"

Penny frowned. "I know. I am sorry. I did not think about what I said before I said it."

Ruby ran her hand over her face and let out a long sigh. "Fine. Alright, I forgive you. You should... I don't know, apologize to her."

"Social interaction is not my strong point friend. People still confuse me sometimes and she irritated me when she called you an idiot."

"Yeah, that's just her. She doesn't really mean it as an insult. I think it's actually her way of showing affection."

"Is that a thing most humans do?"

Ruby smirked. "You say that like you're not one."

"Sometimes I wonder that myself," Penny replied with a smile.

"Yeah. Well I'm gonna go to the bar and grab a beer. Might as well have some fun while I'm here right? I'll talk to Weiss for you when she cools off. Let her know you're sorry."

"I will stay here and work on my social interaction. Do not ingest too many alcoholic beverages friend Ruby, the night is still young."

Ruby stood up. "Yeah whatever. I can handle my beer, don't worry."

* * *

Several beers later, Ruby was re-thinking her earlier declaration. She stared down at the grain of the red wood the bar was made of, fascinated by the way it twisted and swirled in on itself. In the back of her mind though, she was wondering where Weiss was. She had taken to looking around the room every few minutes or so, but she never saw that distinctive shock of white hair.

She finished the last of her fourth beer and put it down. "Whatever," she mumbled. "Weiss is a grown woman, when she wants to show up she'll show up."

"What was that miss?" the bartender asked.

"Nothing," she slurred. She stood, shakily, but her head cleared as soon as she was on her feet. She wasn't _that_ drunk. Or at least that's what she told herself.

She glanced out the window. "Some fresh air should help," she muttered, and made her way to the glass doors. "Might as well check out the dance too."

The dance floor itself wasn't in the same room as all the dinner tables were; the two buildings were separated by a concrete sidewalk that ran between the two. The path let out to open fields on either side, which in turn were bordered by the surrounding woods. Ruby pushed open the door and stepped outside, and immediately felt much more clear-headed.

The night air was cool and refreshing, the stars and moon shone overhead, and the smell of pine and maple drifted with the gentle breeze. In that moment it seemed to her as if she was almost in another world. She lifted her head to the sky and took a deep breath.

"Ruby?"

And nearly doubled over into a coughing fit when she heard her name called. She spun around to find Penny staring at her in concern.

"O-Oh," she coughed again, "it's only you Penny. Holy hell you startled me."

The orange-haired woman cocked her head to the side. "Why did I startle you? You have met me before and we are not strangers."

"Nah, it's not that," Ruby replied while shaking her head. "Whatever, did you want something?"

"Yes. Would you dance with me?"

Ruby blinked once, then twice. "A dance? You were serious?"

"Is that not a thing friends do together? I have observed many fellow female officers dancing together in the ballroom, and I know that some of them are indeed married and most have male relationship partners. No males have danced together so far, but for two females to share a dance is culturally acceptable is it not?"

Ruby smirked and looked to the side. "I mean I guess." She looked back at Penny. "Look, Penny, you know I'm not interested in you right? Like I don't have any romantic feelings for you."

Penny smiled. "Of course not. I was simply asking if you would like to partake in an interesting social activity with me. I thought it could be fun. But I will leave you to your musings."

Penny turned, but Ruby spoke up before she could walk away. "You didn't give me a chance to answer Penny. I think you're right, a dance should be fun."

"Oh hurray!" Penny shouted. She reached out and grabbed Ruby's arm with both hands. "Come, let us make haste to the dance floor then!"

Ruby grinned and let Penny drag her along the sidewalk and into the large open room that served as a ballroom. Up-tempo classical music filled the air along with the murmurs of the crowd. The walls were dark blue and studded with dim white lights, and the paneled wooden dance floor was lit up while the rest of the room was shadowed.

"Holy crap, Penny slow down!" Ruby exclaimed as Penny pulled her through the crowd.

The alcohol was really starting to seep into her system, and she stumbled a few times and had to murmur apologies to the people she bumped into. Before she knew it they were in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by dancing couples and friends.

Penny immediately put her left hand on her waist and her right hand on her shoulder. Ruby swallowed and did the same. "Do you know how to dance friend?"

Ruby grinned sheepishly. "Well honestly I was gonna have Weiss teach me while we were here. I don't really know much more than the basics. What about you?"

"I have been studying the people dancing here for almost half an hour now. From what I gather, you simply hold eachother like this and sway from side to side, occasionally breaking the routine with a spin or a shift in position."

"Okay," Ruby replied. "I mean that sounds easy enough right?"

They started swaying gently to the tempo of the music, and Ruby found that – after a few moments passed – that it was very easy indeed. So easy that she didn't have to think about it. Or maybe that was the alcohol.

"Speaking of your acquaintance, where is Weiss?" Penny asked.

"Well, I mean she's a lot more than an acquaintance," Ruby slurred. "I kinda like her a lot. Like a really lot."

"A really lot? Ruby are you already past the proper usage of English?"

"Pff," Ruby scoffed. "Nah. I'm just a little tipsy. There's a few other buildings here Weiss could be in. She's probably talking to people and cooling off or something, I dunno. She'll be back."

"Ah," Penny replied. "Well in the interest of conversation, I gave some more thought to joining SWAT."

"Hey, you rhymed," Ruby giggled. "So what'd you decide?"

"I will join. They're holding selections in a month and a half, and I decided that I will try out then."

"Yeesh, that's hard stuff," Ruby replied. She stepped back and did a small twirl, and Penny smiled when they came back together. "You know you're gonna have to train real hard to pass, and it only gets harder once you're in."

"Oh I am fully aware friend Ruby. Don't worry, I know I will make it. Once I set my mind to something there is nothing I can't accomplish."

Ruby smirked. "For some reason I believe that. You weren't even a beat cop for a month, and you're already gonna try out for SWAT. Overachiever much?"

"There is nothing as too much fulfillment in life. I do what makes me happy and what gives me purpose."

"Sure, "Ruby slurred. "Whatever floats your boat."

"My boat? I don't own any watercraft, and the nearest body of water is almost two hours away."

"You know what I meant," Ruby laughed. "It's just a saying. Like whatever makes you happy."

"I've never been a big fan of water," Penny replied. "It's never been a significant source of happiness to me. I still fail to see your point?"

"Whatever, just roll with it Penny. You're pretty good at that."

"I am? Well thank you for the compliment." Penny was silent for a moment, then something appeared to catch her eye. "Hmm, Ruby? Does your friend Weiss normally look like she wants to rend the nearest person limb from limb?"

Ruby laughed, but then caught herself when she realized Penny wasn't laughing back. Her blood went cold. She turned and followed Penny's gaze. Weiss stood at the edge of the crowd, her face a potent mix of hurt, betrayal, and fury. Ruby's blood froze.

"Shit," she breathed. She immediately disentangled herself from Penny. "Weiss, I was just-"

But the white-haired woman was already moving away through the crowd.

Ruby made to run after her, but tripped on the leg of another officer who had been twirling his date around. She tried to recover but stumbled to the floor, hit her head, and slid several feet. The world went black for a few moments. She heard murmurs, and then she could feel hands trying to pull her to her feet. She got halfway up before she tripped and fell again.

This time a pair of firm arms wrapped themselves around her waist and hauled her to her feet. "Ruby, please settle down!" Penny said. "You will hurt yourself if you continue falling!"

Ruby tried to shake her off. "Freaking let go of me," she hissed. "I gotta catch Weiss!"

"Officer Rose!" a familiar voice called. Ruby turned and found herself face to face with Sergeant Baker, the man in charge of her squad. "You're making a fool out of yourself."

She blinked away the sudden dizziness she felt. "S-Sorry sergeant. I just... I need to go find my friend."

"You're in no state to go anywhere right now. Drunk off your ass in the middle of the ball. Couldn't you have waited until after and gone to a casino or something? Christ." He turned to Penny. "Ironwood, can you get her home? _Safely_?"

Penny saluted, and a few people in the crowd snorted and giggled. "Of course Sergeant. You can leave it to me."

He stared at Ruby for a few seconds more. "Best believe we're gonna have a talk about this back at the station after briefing Rose. I'm not done with you."

She grinned. Right now the wrath of Sergeant Baker was the last thing on her mind. "Sure thing Sergeant."

He rolled his eyes and walked away. By now no one was watching them anymore; the crowd had turned back to dancing and conversation.

Penny gave her an inquisitive look. "Ruby? Your apartment complex is only six blocks away, correct?"

"Yeah, I mean..." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute, how do you know that?"

"I've given you a ride home before?"

"No no, I mean the six blocks thing. That's pretty specific."

Penny grinned. "I just know. I have always been good with maps. I never get lost."

"Somehow I doubt that," Ruby replied.

They stepped out of the large room and into the cool night air, and Ruby sighed as a gentle breeze swept over her skin. She was glad to be free of the crowd.

"Weiss is probably already home," she muttered. "I don't even know how I'm gonna calm her down. I've never seen her that pissed before."

"I think she'll be okay," Penny replied. "She seems like a strong woman."

"Too strong for her own good sometimes," Ruby mumbled. She turned in the direction of her apartment complex. "I guess you can walk me home as long as you don't get us lost."

Penny smirked. "The probability of that happening is nearly nonexistent friend Ruby. I do not get lost."

"S_uuur_e," Ruby drawled.

* * *

"I thought you didn't get lost?" Ruby said as they walked up to her apartment complex. They stopped in the grass right before the path leading to the bottom story of apartments.

Penny looked laughably confused. "I... the monorail station had two left turns instead of one – and the fifth block was bigger than I expected! And it was your fault too! Why didn't you tell me when I made the wrong turn?"

Ruby shook her head and laughed, glad that the effects of the alcohol were finally wearing off. "Because it was funnier to see you mess up."

Penny tilted her head. "You find other people's failures amusing? That is not healthy behavior."

"Whatever Penny. It's almost ten and we have work tomorrow. You should head back too and get some sleep. Actually wait, are you gonna be fine making it home on your own?"

"There's another rail station within one point two miles of my own apartment, so yes I will be fine. Thank you for concern."

Ruby looked up at the starry sky. "Alright. Thanks for walking me home. I guess I'll have to deal with Sergeant Baker tomorrow. That's gonna be fun."

"I will be waiting outside his office to make sure no harm comes to you," Penny replied.

"What?" Ruby asked. "He's not gonna hit me or anything. That's illegal and I'd have him up on assault charges."

"Oh. Well you sounded worried so-"

The sprinklers in the grass abruptly came to life, and Ruby and Penny barely dodged a waist-high stream of water before they made it onto the sidewalk.

"Yeesh," Ruby said, looking down at her dress uniform. "That was close. I really don't want to have to get these dry-cleaned again."

Penny stared at the sprinklers for a second like she was studying them, then turned to Ruby. "I will take my leave now. It is growing late. But Ruby, a warning, if you will listen."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Do not grow too attached to your companion. She is an illegal immigrant and you are a sworn officer of the law. Such a relationship cannot end well."

Ruby shot her a withering glare. In the back of her head she knew the same thing, but her heart wasn't willing to accept it.

"Thanks Penny, but I can handle myself. You've said it yourself, you've still got a lot to learn when it comes to 'social interaction.' Well you need to work on it some more. Who I choose to be friends or anything else with is honestly none of your business."

She turned on her heel and marched to her apartment door before Penny could reply. Not checking to see if the orange-haired woman was still standing there or not, she unlocked the door, stepped into the cool blackness of her apartment, and slammed it shut.

She leaned back against the nearest wall. "Crap," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I'm probably gonna have to apologize for that later."

She opened her eyes, fumbled for the hallway's light switch, and flicked it on.

"Weiss?" She called out. "I'm home."

The rest of the apartment was still dark. There was no sound and no movement. Her stomach sank. Something felt wrong.

"Weiss?"

She stepped into the kitchen and flicked the switches that controlled the lights for both it and the living room. They lit up, and Ruby immediately noticed two things out of her baseline. When she had been going through police training she had learned to established a baseline when investigating cases or searching for evidence. A baseline was the normal way things should have been; a standard and regular image you held in her your head of the way things _should_ be, the way her apartment _should_ be. Anything out of the ordinary was something that broke the baseline.

And two things broke it. One was that Weiss' neat and orderly piles of clothing that Ruby had bought for her over the past few weeks, normally sitting by the couch, were gone.

The second was the note on the dining room table.

Her stomach dropped into a bottomless pit and her hands started to sweat. The walls felt like they were closing on on her. She frantically stumbled over to the table and snatched up the note. Maybe Weiss was just telling her she went out for food or groceries.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and held her breath. Some part of her deep down knew what the note might say. She didn't want to read it. But she had to know, so she opened her eyes and started to read anyway. The handwriting was beautiful and immaculate.

_'Dear Ruby,'_ it read.

_'Firstly I must thank you for everything you have done for me. You have been a friend to me when no one else would. You took me in when no one else would. You gave me a second chance, and for that I will never forget you._

_But I must move on. I cannot stay with you. I cannot bear to be around you any longer. I cannot exactly explain why. But know it was the reason I left Russia in the first place. It is not your fault at all. It is mine.'_

Ruby couldn't stop reading, but she could feel Weiss slipping away like sand between her fingers with every word she read. The paper was slightly wet in places, as if teardrops had fallen upon it.

_'I have taken the clothes you bought for me and some food as well. I know that this is robbing you, and I am sorry. It is necessity. I made you pelmeni one last time and left it in the fridge. I know you will be happy with Penny. She is a good woman. I do not wish you to think I left because of her though. But she made me realize something, and with that realization I cannot stay. I wish you only the best happiness you can find in your life. One day you will be truly happy. I know it. But it must be without me._

_Thank you again for everything you have ever done for me. _

_Do Svidaniya. Yours forever, Weiss Schnee.'_

Ruby put down the note with steady hands. She went to wipe her eyes, then realized that she wasn't actually crying. She chuckled and read the bottom of the note again. Weiss Schnee. She realized that Weiss had never actually told her her last name until now.

She stood up and turned off the lights. She moved to the couch in the darkness and sat down. She tried to pick up the remote, fumbled, and then dropped it.

She started laughing. She laughed and laughed and laughed.

Then she curled up into a ball and started to cry.


	6. Chapter 6

Life was a blur, and one she tried to ignore with all her willpower. The chill in the air made it harder.

Winter was starting to wrap its icy fingers around the city. The days were long and cold, and the nights were longer and colder.

It had been three days since Weiss had left. Ruby threw herself into her job like never before. She was cold and emotionless, responding to calls as fast as possible because the work kept her mind off of Weiss. She stayed up late writing incident report after incident report in as much detail as she could to tire herself out, but even that didn't work.

Sleep eluded her. Most nights she simply lay on the couch in the dark, staring up the ceiling and trying to quiet her restless mind. It didn't help. Nothing did. She felt empty inside, as empty as her apartment felt without Weiss. She had grown used to the other woman, to the way she made her apartment feel warm and full. The way she had made it feel like a home.

Now things were back to the way they used to be. It had occurred to her on the second night that Weiss had been like a shooting star. She had come in brilliant and clean, lighting up her world. Then she disappeared just as quickly as she came. She had only cried the first night. The second and the third she had squeezed her eyes shut and dug her fingernails into her palm until the pain made her lucid again. But even though it stopped her tears, it couldn't stop the ache in her chest. Deep down it felt like Weiss had abandoned her, just like mother had. She didn't consciously blame her; she knew that the other woman had her reasons, but the end result was the same. Just like before, she was left alone in the dark.

On top of everything else was the guilt. The guilt came because despite her best intentions, part of her was still furious at Penny. That irrational, emotional part of her blamed Penny for everything. If she hadn't asked for that dance, if Weiss hadn't seen them together in that room...

Maybe things would have been different. Maybe they wouldn't have. But part of her blamed Penny anyway. And the rest of her felt guilty for that, because deep down she knew it wasn't Penny's fault. Even still, she hadn't talked to the orange-haired woman since Weiss had left three days ago.

And it wasn't as if she was simply not talking to Penny; she was actively avoiding the other woman as well. They were on the same shift, so normally they would have helped eachother out on calls. But whenever Penny was on a case, Ruby went to a different one, even if it was further away. Whenever Ruby knew she needed help on an incident, she refused to call for backup when Penny was the closest officer.

Penny had even messaged her over the hardbox computers they used to monitor eachother and keep track of calls, asking her if she wanted to meet at Starbucks for coffee. Ruby had ignored her.

In fact, she was doing just that right now. Penny's message still blinked on the computer in her police cruiser. She ignored it.

Penny's voice came over the radio. "Dispatch this is five paul thirty-two. Requesting backup at my location."

"Copy that," came the reply. "Five paul seventeen, you're on assist."

Ruby took a sip of her coffee – the one she had bought at Starbucks when Penny had been away on a noise complaint call – and slowly drove down a dark street, listening to the conversation. It sounded like Penny was searching a neighborhood for a suspect involved in a robbery that had been called in over an hour ago. Mostly just busywork. Or at least it had been, until she had called for another officer.

"Now why would she need backup if she hasn't found the guy yet?" Ruby mused to herself.

Penny's voice came over the radio again, but this time Ruby perked up, because it sounded heavy and rushed. Almost as if Penny was running. Suddenly there was a gunshot over the radio.

"Code 998, code 998," Penny shouted. Code 998 meant an officer had fired their weapon. Why would Penny be firing at someone? Did they have a weapon too? "Chasing suspect to a gas station at the corner of Davis and 75th, requesting backup!"

"Copy that," dispatch's voice came back calmly. "All officers in the area respond."

Ruby hesitated. She was technically in the area; only a five minute's drive away, three if she rushed. But she still didn't want to even look at Penny. She didn't want to be reminded of what had happened. And when Penny inevitably tried to talk to her? She didn't want to say something she would later regret. She stopped at a red light. The light went green; there were no other cars at the intersection. It was only her in the darkness and the bitter glare of the streetlamps.

All she would have to do was drive straight for three minutes and then she would be at Penny's location. But that would mean talking to her, forgiving her. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay mad at Penny if they were face to face. But if she forgave Penny, that would mean she would have to accept that Weiss was truly gone. That would mean letting Weiss go. She didn't know if she could do that yet.

Another officer's voice came over the radio, breathing hard and fast. "Code 999! Code 999!"

She reacted without thinking, slamming on the gas and speeding down the road towards Penny's location. Code 999 was officer down.

The radio was alive with traffic.

"All units converge on five paul thirty-two's location. Repeat, all units converge on five paul thirty-two."

She was there in two minutes. Three other police cars and SUV's were already arranged in a cordon around a gas station with a high brick wall surrounding every side but the front. There was only one way in or out. Officers were pressed up against the vehicles on the sides opposite the gas station, using them as cover. Their sidearms were drawn. There was a man inside waving his arms. He had a pistol. And there was a blue-uniformed body on the ground by the middle police car. Another officer was beside it, trying to apply what appeared to be emergency first aid.

She took all of it in the space of two seconds, then swung her police cruiser into the far end of the cordon, adding to the blockade. She threw the door open, drew her sidearm, and crouch-walked along the line of vehicles until she was at the middle car. Flashing red and blue lights danced across her vision in the darkness of the starless night.

The officer crouched there looked up from the body with eyes filled with rage. Other officers were shouting at the man inside the gas station to come out with his hands behind his head, but Ruby didn't really hear any of it.

All she could do was stare into Penny's blank, lifeless eyes and try not to throw up.

* * *

Penny's funeral was five days later in the bitter chill of the autumn air. Just like that.

She only had one immediate family member attend: a man in a pressed white suit with stark black hair with a silver streak through it. He didn't appear remorseful, but Ruby could see the pain in his eyes. She knew that look all too well. She knew that same pain was reflected in her own.

The last rites were read, the chaplain gave a solemn benediction, and Ruby struggled to suppress the raging guilt she felt. The only person that came up and spoke about her was Sergeant Baker. He talked about her dedication to duty, her unwavering courage, and her singular sacrifice to the citizens she had sworn to protect.

In his words though, Ruby heard only accusation. She had never apologized to Penny. The last words she had spoken to her were ones of anger. She had actively ignored the orange-haired woman, convinced she would get the chance to talk to her sooner or later. But now she was gone. Penny had died without knowing that she was sorry for what had happened at the dance and what she had said afterwards. She had died without knowing her only real friend had forgiven her.

As orange, red, and golden leaves drifted and twirled around in the breeze, twenty-one guns rang out in a chorus of finality.

Twenty-one guns signaled the death of a fallen officer, a defender of the peace and a person who had given their life to protect the innocent. Penny hadn't deserved to bleed out in the dirty parking lot of a gas station on a starless night. She didn't deserve a short funeral on a chilly Sunday morning.

But a short funeral on a chilly Sunday morning was what she got.

Ruby looked up at the grey, rainless sky. What did anyone really deserve?

* * *

Another week passed. Life went on as it always did.

Sergeant Baker had offered her a few days of leave, but she had declined. She wanted to work. She _needed_ to work. She needed to be on patrol, guarding the streets that Penny had given her life for. She owed her that much.

She felt dead inside. No emotion, no sadness, no happiness, no fear. She still hadn't touched the pelmeni Weiss had left in the fridge. She didn't even look at it when she reached for a jug of milk or a snack, but she knew it was there.

She was in the middle of a domestic assault call, and she was glad. Glad that it kept her from thinking about Weiss or Penny. It was almost midnight, and the night air was cool and refreshing on her skin. A crying woman in her late twenties sat on the sidewalk while Ruby banged on the door of the hotel room the woman had been sharing with her boyfriend. She said he had hit her after an argument. She said he was on meth. She said he had a knife. Ruby didn't particularly care about any of that. She didn't really care about anything.

She banged on the door again. "This is the police! Unlock the door and lay down on the floor with your hands above your head!"

"Shut the fuck up!" came a hoarse voice from inside. "I paid for this room! You can't come in! I'll fucking stab you if you come in I swear to god!"

Ruby sighed. She checked her taser and made sure it was in working order. She had backup on the way, but didn't want to wait. She only wanted to get this over with.

The hotel manager stood next to her, fumbling in her purse for a universal keycard to unlock the door. Ruby was glad it was a hotel: that meant she didn't need a warrant to enter the room, only the manager's permission.

"Shit shit shit," the manager - an overweight woman in her late-thirties - muttered. "Oh! Here it is!"

Ruby stared at her. "Unlock the door please."

"O-Oh. Yes, right away."

She moved to the door and inserted the keycard. Ruby drew her taser. "I'm coming in," she shouted. "If you don't lay down on the ground you will be subdued by force!"

"You come in here you're fucking dead!" came the answering shout.

"Rose!" a voice yelled from behind her. "Rose don't go in yet holy fuck!"

She turned and saw another officer running at her from his car. She moved back from the door. "Bransen," she greeted.

"The fuck were you thinking?" he asked, running up and covering the door with his own taser. "You weren't gonna wait for me?"

"I just wanna get this over with," Ruby sighed. "There's a male inside, six foot one, white, high on meth and apparently armed with a knife." She gestured with her free hand to the crying girl on the sidewalk. "At least that's what his girlfriend says. She's hysterical right now though. Probably making stuff up to get him in trouble."

Bransen eyed her, then the door. "Well whatever. Is it unlocked?"

"Yeap, ready when you are."

"And you got the okay to go in?"

Ruby pointed at the manger. "From the boss lady herself."

"Alright, good to go," he replied. "You wanna get this over with, let's do it then."

They took up position on either side of the door. Ruby held up three fingers, then two, then one. She opened the door.

"Police!" she yelled as she entered. "Down on the ground!"

The room appeared empty. She furrowed her brow in confusion. Suddenly a scream of rage sounded from her right and a man leapt at her from behind a large set of dresser drawers. She brought up her taser and fired, acting on instinct. He thrust at her with a wicked looking knife at the same time, but she saw the hooks of the taser go in before he could complete the thrust. He backed away from her and started convulsing, then fell to the floor. He immediately tried to rise again, shrugging off the effects of the taser the way only a person on meth or crack could. She moved to tackle him and hold him down. But her body wouldn't move.

Officer Bransen leapt on him and rolled him onto his chest, discharging the taser into the man's neck when he tried to rise again. He gurgled and convulsed as Brasen cuffed him in one smooth motion.

"Where's his knife?" Bransen muttered. "Fucking piece of shit. Rose, did you grab his knife?"

Ruby looked around the room. Her body felt strange, as if it wasn't responding to her commands as fast as it should have been. Bransen finally looked up at her. His eyes went wide.

"Oh christ," he muttered.

"What?" Ruby mumbled. Her speech was slurred. The world looked blurry.

"Shit," he whispered, giving the man on the ground one last look to make sure he was unconscious before scrambling to her side. "You're gonna be okay," he said. "It's gonna be alright."

Ruby frowned. "Whas gonna be okay?"

A gasp sounded from the open doorway and Ruby turned to see the manager with her hands over her mouth, staring at her chest. Ruby looked down at where the numbness spreading throughout her body seemed to be coming from. The knife was sticking out of her abdomen.

"Found the knife," she managed to laugh, stumbling backwards.

"Code 999, I repeat code 999 at my location. Any available units respond!" Bransen nearly shouted into his microphone.

Ruby fell backwards and slid down the wall. Bransen scrambled to catch her but was too late. Her body felt completely numb now, and her vision grew dark around the edges.

"You're gonna be alright," Bransen muttered. It sounded like he was a million miles away. "It's not even a bad wound, you'll be fine. Hey, stay with me Rose."

For some reason she thought of Weiss.

"Rose!"

And then everything went black.

* * *

"Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up from a boring TV show in her cluttered hospital room. The doctor taking care of her was standing in the doorway.

It had been a week and a half since she had been taken to the ER after being stabbed. "Huh? Yeah?"

He moved and sat down in the chair by the doorway, then started going over the papers on his clipboard. "I said you're being discharged today."

She sighed, unsure whether to be happy or sad. At least she would get to work again. She moved her hand down to her stomach and felt the nasty scar on her abdomen. It still hurt. "Already?"

The doctor shifted in his chair. "You're lucky the blade missed anything vital. Obviously you won't be doing any gymnastics or anything for the next month or so, but I've already talked to your lieutenant and he says you'll be on paid leave until I determine you fit for duty."

"So I'll just be sitting in my house for a month?" Ruby asked, trying to keep panic out of her voice. The idea sounded horrifying.

"Well you don't have to stay in your house," he replied, shifting through the papers on his clipboard. "You can go out, see a movie, eat dinner, the like. I already checked you out one last time this morning and you're good to go, so all you need to is sign here, here and... here."

Ruby took the clipboard and signed the spots he marked, then handed it back. "So... I can leave?"

"Yes ma'am. You're free to go whenever you like." He stood up and moved to the door. "It's been a pleasure Miss Rose. Thank you for your service, I appreciate it. Oh, and one of the nurses said there's someone waiting for you in the lobby."

"Probably Sergeant Baker here to chew my ass out for getting stabbed on the job," Ruby replied in a dull monotone. "I'll be out in a minute. Thanks for patching me up doc."

"What are doctors for?" he laughed, then he turned the corner and disappeared.

"Huh, I didn't even remember his name," Ruby muttered to herself. "What was it? Rick?"

She let out a heavy sigh and stared up at the ceiling. She had had a lot of time to think over the past eleven days. She realized what she had done wrong around the fourth one. She didn't necessarily want to say she had rethought her life, but she had certainly rethought certain aspects of it.

When she had been on the case where she was stabbed, she hadn't been living. She had been dead inside, simply going through the motions and trying to ignore the hole Weiss and Penny had left in her. Trying to fill it with work or sleep, anything to keep her from thinking too much. But that wasn't the way she wanted to live. She wanted to smile, she wanted to laugh, to find enjoyment in things and taste good food again. She decided she would eat the pelmeni Weiss left in her fridge finally. If it was still good. On second thought it had probably gone bad a long time ago.

She frowned. She would have to throw it out.

Regardless, she realized she couldn't keep living like that. She had to forgive herself for what happened to Penny. There was nothing she could have done; she wasn't even the closest officer to the scene. The woman had given her life in service of the people she protected. She would have been happy with that.

She also realized she should have chased Weiss. It had been a mistake to let her go like that. But she hadn't counted on Weiss being able to leave. Her apartment was the only place she could have called home. The possibility that Weiss would have been able to run from that hadn't even occurred to her. But she had to accept that she was human, and humans made mistakes. What's done was done. The past was in the past, as her mother used to say.

She realized she had to rebuild, had to move on, had to find a reason for living that didn't depend completely upon another person. Maybe one day she would find someone and she would be able to live with them and even for them, but she wouldn't let herself live _because_ of them. The differences were clear to her now. One meant a healthy, stable relationship with trust and understanding, the other was an unhealthy one-sided reliance.

It would take her a while to get over Weiss; she knew that.

But it would happen eventually.

She stood up, wincing slightly as her stomach muscles stretched and pulled on the newly healed skin on her abdomen. No, she would definitely not be doing gymnastics anytime soon.

She headed out into the hallway and followed the signs to the exit, avoiding the other patients, nurses, and doctors making their various ways to various destinations. The constant chatter between the three was something she had gotten used to long ago. Thankfully Officer Bransen had borrowed her keys from her and driven her car to the hospital a few days ago, so she wouldn't have to take a bus back to her apartment. She was looking forward to a nice drive, and then a long nap on her couch and maybe some Netflix. Now that she only had herself to support again she could afford to reactivate her subscription.

She spotted the sign for the lobby; it was just around the corner. She steeled herself for an ass-chewing from Sergeant Baker and turned it.

She stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't Sergeant Baker.

It was Weiss.

The white-haired woman brushed some stray hair behind her ear, turned, and met her eyes.

They said nothing, only stared at eachother for several seconds.

Ruby raised her right hand in greeting, trying to ignore how her heart was pounding like a jackhammer. "Hi Weiss."

Weiss nodded. Was she shaking? "H-Hello Ruby. I came to... I heard you were hurt. I saw on news. Are you okay?"

Ruby grinned and rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, it's no big deal. Just got stabbed, nothing serious. I'm alright now. Got about a month or so of bed rest before I can go back on duty though."

Weiss looked down at the floor. "Ah. That is good. How... How have you been?"

"Good. I've been good."

Weiss nodded. Ruby bit her bottom lip.

Several people in the waiting room were looking at them and they way they stood there, awkwardly facing eachother. Ruby found that she was unable to meet Weiss' eyes. She wanted to crush her in a hug and never let go. She wanted to yell at her and scream herself hoarse until Weiss finally understood the pain she had put her through. She wanted to ask her how she'd been getting money; her clothes looked freshly cleaned and she was even wearing a touch of eye shadow. She wanted to ask her where she'd been. And more than anything she wanted to ask her why she'd left.

"Hey Weiss?"

The white-haired woman looked up from the floor at her, perhaps a little too quickly. "Yes Ruby?"

"Do you wanna go back to my place for a bit? We can watch Netflix or order some pizza, maybe-"

"Yes!" Weiss shouted. She covered her mouth in shock immediately afterward. Most of the people in the room were staring at them now.

"G-Great," Ruby replied, already heading for the sliding glass doors leading to the parking lot. She grabbed Weiss' hand and pulled her along. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

The white-haired woman put up no resistance at all.

"Did you drive here or..." Ruby trailed off as they walked into the open air.

"No, I took public transportation. A bus."

"Cool," Ruby laughed, then caught herself and stopped. Why had she laughed? Weiss hadn't made a joke; that wasn't the right response. She didn't even know how to feel right now. "Well my car is here, so do you mind taking that?"

"No, I do not mind," Weiss replied. Her voice seemed to be growing shakier by the minute.

The sun was high and bright overhead, but the air still carried the bitter chill of encroaching autumn. A flock of geese flew high overhead in a 'v' formation, honking and squawking as they went. They approached Ruby's car in silence. She unlocked the door, slid inside, and started the engine. Weiss got into the passenger seat and buckled in as Ruby fiddled with the radio. Then she decided against it, realizing it would make conversation harder. She wanted to talk to Weiss. She just had no clue how to go about it.

She backed out of the parking lot and started driving; she knew the way home. Weiss looked out the window on her right, hiding her face.

Ruby swallowed hard and tried to think of something to say. Almost a minute passed in silence and they were on the freeway before she mustered the courage to speak.

"So... watcha been up to?"

Weiss glanced at her. "I found a job. I've been working and staying at cheap hotel."

"A job?" Ruby perked up. "That's great, doing what?"

Weiss hesitated before answering. "Waitress. I found place on other side of city that was hiring. I may not be best at talking to people, but I can take orders just fine. I suppose."

"Huh, yeah I can kinda see you as a waitress. What kinda place is it?"

"Italian. Not very fancy, but not... how you say, fast food?"

"Yeah, like an Olive Garden then."

"That is the place."

Ruby smiled. "You work at an Olive Garden now?"

"Yes. I like the black uniforms. They are nice."

"Yeah, you'd look real good in black." Ruby realized what she'd said and felt her cheeks heat up. "I mean like you know, black contrasts with your white hair and the two colors look awesome together so you got that whole black and white thing going on. You know?"

"Yes," Weiss replied.

Ruby coughed. "So um... you're staying at a motel then?"

"Yes. Cheap place. The manager is very nice lady. She let me stay at a reduced rate for a while until I have enough for down payment on apartment. It will still be something cheap though even then."

Ruby's stomach dropped and she fought the urge to frown. "That's good, that's good," she managed to lie. "Get your own place and all that. That's good."

"Yes."

Part of her had been hoping Weiss would move back in with her. The idea of being apart from Weiss again so soon after finding her left a bitter taste in her mouth. And she still didn't know why Weiss had left; the white-haired woman wasn't exactly being forthcoming. A bitter silence fell again, and this time Ruby didn't know how to break it.

Almost five minutes passed in total silence.

And then she heard something from Weiss: the tiniest of whimpers. Was she... crying?

She glanced at the white-haired woman, who was hiding her face and staring out the right-side window. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Weiss didn't answer, but her body started shaking. She was crying.

"Hey, it's okay," Ruby whispered. "I'm here. I'm fine."

Weiss suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand with a surprising force. The white-haired woman squeezed hard, and Ruby did her best to squeeze back. She had no idea what to say or what to do. Weiss turned away from the window and towards the front, and Ruby could see tears streaming down her face. Her heart leapt into her throat. It almost physically hurt to see Weiss cry like this and have no idea how to fix it. This wasn't something she knew how to deal with.

She squeezed Weiss' hand and stroked the back of it with her thumb. The white-haired woman sobbed the entire nerve-wracking way to the apartment.

When they arrived Ruby had to help her out of the car. Together they walked to the front door. She slid her key in and opened it.

It was dark and smelled musty. She hadn't been here in almost two weeks. She flipped the lights on and started moving into the living room when suddenly a heavy weight pressed her into the wall. She looked down and found Weiss clinging on to her with both arms, squeezing her like a vice and burying her face in her chest.

Ruby froze up for a second, but then wrapped her own arms around the shorter woman's shoulders.

"Are... are you okay?" she asked.

Weiss sniffed and nodded. "Now I am."

"Heh. Okay. Don't worry. I didn't die or anything. I'm right here."

Weiss nodded again.

"Hey... do you want dinner?"

"That would be nice," Weiss muttered.

* * *

Several minutes later she set down two steaming microwave dinners onto her sorry excuse for a dinner table. Weiss thanked her and peeled off the plastic wrap, staring at it uneasily. Her eyes were red and puffy, but the crying had stopped.

Ruby laughed. "I know it's not anything special, but I haven't had a chance to get groceries or anything. It tastes fine, don't worry."

Weiss poked what appeared to be a beef patty and mashed potatoes combo with her plastic fork. "Are you sure?"

Ruby took a bite of her own. Cheap, rubbery, and yet somehow surprisingly delicious. "Yeap, tashtes jusht fine."

"Talking with mouth full is impolite."

Ruby laughed and smiled, and something in her heart filled her with warmth and hope for the future. "It's good to have you back Weiss."

The snowy-haired woman smiled, blushed, and took a bite of her own food. She chewed it slowly for several seconds, then swallowed. "It is... acceptable."

Ruby laughed again; it felt good to laugh after so long. "As long as you're fine with it, that means I don't have to order pizza or anything. I can go out and buy groceries for us later."

She caught herself. Weiss wasn't living with her anymore. She had her own place now.

"I mean... if you want to come over from time to time and stuff. Do you- I mean do you plan on staying at that hotel?"

Weiss looked down at her food. "I don't know."

"Oh." Ruby bit her bottom lip. "I think it'd be nice for you to get your own place," she lied. "You could support yourself and everything."

Weiss only nodded. They finished the rest of the meal in silence. Ruby stood and picked up the plastic trays containing the remains of their food, then put them into the trash while Weiss stared down at the floor, fingering the hem of her skirt.

Ruby opened the fridge door to hide her face and let out a heavy sigh. She wanted to know why Weiss had left; the question was afflicting her mind like a gnawing, biting hunger. She _had_ to know.

She shut the fridge door. "Hey Weiss, wanna watch some TV? Just like old times?"

The white-haired woman looked up at her and nodded. She looked sad for some reason. Was she planning on leaving again? This time, Ruby decided, she would chase Weiss to the ends of the Earth. She wouldn't let her get away again.

She strode over to the couch and sat down, grabbed the remote, and flipped the TV on. Weiss folded her skirt underneath her, then sat down next to her but still a comfortable distance away.

"Let's see what came out on Netflix while I was gone," Ruby muttered. Weiss didn't reply.

She settled on a show she had never seen before but heard good things about. In truth she wasn't entirely paying attention to the television. She was busy trying to watch Weiss out of the corner of her eye.

The silence persisted, hanging like a nameless weight above them. It was stifling.

They watched an entire hour of television in utter quiet, disturbed only by the noises and dialogue of the show she wasn't actually watching. The silence stretched and grew until it seemed to cover the room. She caught herself biting her nails and had to force herself to stop. She had to know why Weiss had left. She _had_ to.

The show ended and Ruby was prompted to start the next episode. Her finger hovered over the button. She saw Weiss look at her out of the corner of her eye. She _had_ to know.

She took a deep breath and set the remote down on the coffee table. Night was falling, and the living room was lit by a warm glow from the standing lamp in the corner. Ruby steeled herself.

She turned to Weiss. The white-haired woman met her gaze, seemingly unable to look away.

"Weiss?" she asked. "Why did you leave?"

Weiss was silent. She looked away. "I didn't want to," she whispered.

"Weiss," Ruby repeated, "why did you leave?"

"I had to."

"That's not an answer. Why. Did. You. Leave."

The white-haired woman looked almost panicked. She wasn't gripping the hem of her skirt; she was fingering it roughly, rubbing the fabric back and forth between her fingers.

Ruby softened her tone. "Weiss. Please just tell me."

"Because I love you!" Weiss shouted.

The silence returned. Ruby couldn't move. Weiss looked back to the front of the room, breathing heavily with wide eyes.

"B-Because... you love me?"

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut. "Yes. Yes. It's stupid I know. It's stupid. Yes."

Ruby pointed a finger at herself. "You had to leave... because you love me?"

"Yes," Weiss hissed again. "I could not stay here. I could not take advantage of hospitality when I had feelings for you. I could not bear to live with you when I felt that way about you. So I left. I _had_ to."

Ruby was stunned. Was she dreaming? Was she still in the hospital bed? Maybe she was. Maybe this was just a really nice dream. Either way, she decided to live it out and see where it took her.

She had considered the possibility that _maybe_ Weiss had harbored feelings for her as well, but never given them any serious thought. The girl was too proper, too refined, too downright aloof to ever love someone like her. She was clumsy and poor. Weiss had obviously come from a world that was the complete opposite of that. But there was no way Weiss was lying. Her heavy breathing, her nervous expression, her wide eyes: it had to be true. Ruby knew in her heart that she wasn't lying.

She was suddenly filled with the terrifying urge to kiss her. But she had to hear it one more time.

"You love me?"

Weiss turned and glared at her with the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I already said so! Yes I love you, and it's stupid but-"

Ruby pushed her back against the couch and kissed her before she could continue. The white-haired woman's lips were chapped, rough, and yet the warmest, softest things she had ever felt. She squeezed her eyes shut and put all of her longing, all of her want, all of her affection for the other woman into it. She tried to convey months of longing through a simple touch of skin on skin.

Weiss didn't move. She was like a statue.

Ruby drew back slowly and wiped her lips. Weiss stared at her, wide-eyed and confused.

"Your lips..." Weiss whispered after several seconds.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Your lips hurt. They were rough. If we kiss again it would hurt even more."

As she spoke Weiss leaned closer and closer. Ruby found herself drawn to Weiss as well, almost as if by an invisible force. She couldn't pull away. She didn't want to.

"Another kiss would definitely hurt."

Weiss gently brushed her lips across her own, and Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a harsh breath. She had never kissed anyone before. She didn't know what she was doing. Weiss might have, but she was acting purely on instinct.

Weiss wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pulled her closer. "That hurt too."

Weiss kissed her again, this time holding her lips there for several seconds.

Ruby suddenly found herself breathing as heavily as Weiss was. "Did that one hurt too?" she whispered.

"Yes," Weiss whispered back, and then kissed her again.

Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders. Weiss tightened her grip on the back of her head and slid her fingers into her hair. They kissed again. And again. And again. Their lips eventually grew moist, and the kisses became easier and easier to give. Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and lost herself in bliss. She had never felt so warm before; the heat spreading from her chest to the rest of her body was incredible and overpowering. Weiss' fingers on her skin were beautiful, beautiful electricity, smooth brushes and tender caresses that made her want to stay like this forever.

She didn't think, didn't stop to wonder about what happened next. She simply poured her emotions into her lips and tried to give them to Weiss that way. The white-haired woman pushed her backwards on the couch until she was on her back and Weiss was on top of her. They continued kissing like that. Then she felt something new, something warm and soft. It was Weiss' tongue probing at her lips, she realized. It was pushing and prodding gently like it wanted something, so Ruby did the only thing she could think of and opened her lips.

Weiss' tongue slid inside, and Ruby found herself moaning into the kiss. The white-haired woman's tongue licked all around her mouth, stroking and twirling and tasting. Weiss' tongue found her own and coiled around it, and Ruby started doing her best to move her own like Weiss was. Weiss' hands were on her cheeks now, holding her head firmly. Her own arms were wrapped as tightly around Weiss' back as they possibly could be, gripping the fabric of her shirt and twisting the material in her fingers.

She felt something wet on her cheek. She peeked her eyes open and saw a trail of tears descending from Weiss' closed eyelids.

She gently pushed Weiss away so she could speak. "W-Weiss, are you crying?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. Now shut up and kiss me again."

With that the slightly shorter woman pressed her back down against the soft, yielding fabric of the couch and pressed her lips to her own again. This time their tongues took turns, as Ruby explored the inside of Weiss' mouth with a gentle and nervous hesitation. Weiss let her though, coiling her fingers in Ruby's hair and letting out breathless moans that let Ruby know that whatever she was doing, she was doing right. They breathed through their noises in short bursts as they tried to maintain lip contact for as long as they could. They drew back from time to time, leaving a strand of saliva dangling in between their mouths. And then after a few short, hot breaths, they started kissing again.

Weiss cried the entire time. Tears ran in beautiful tracks down her cheeks to drip onto Ruby's face. She didn't care. They felt good somehow. They meant Weiss was trusting her with something she had never trusted her with before. She had never seen Weiss cry until today. She knew deep down that that meant something special.

She was warm. So warm; she had never felt this loved before, even with her mother. There was something different about the way Weiss loved. It was almost as if she thought that they would part soon, so she poured her heart and soul into these kisses. She loved with passionate abandonment. It was beautiful in its own way.

The kisses slowly changed pace, going from breathless and passionate to steady and gentle. They kissed luxuriously, taking their time and gazing into eachother's eyes for long moments before coming back together and kissing again.

Ruby completely lost track of time. It was fully dark outside. She had no idea how long she had been on the couch with Weiss. She didn't even care.

Several more minutes passed, full of breathless affection and tender caresses down still-clothed skin. Eventually Weiss drew back, sitting up and letting Ruby pull herself back up. As soon as they were sitting upright Weiss embraced her and squeezed her so tightly she felt she might burst.

"H-Hey," Ruby whispered. "It's fine. I'm here."

"Tell me to stay," Weiss muttered. "I want to stay. Tell me to stay."

Ruby giggled and kissed the top of Weiss' head. She had never been happier in her life.

"Stay here with me then. Don't leave. We'll move whatever stuff you have back in. It doesn't matter if you give up your new job, I've got enough to support us for a long time. Stay."

Weiss nodded into her shoulder and took a long breath. When she let it out, Ruby could almost hear her let out all of her anxieties and fears with it. "Yes. I will stay."

"Mmm. We're gonna have to have a long talk though. You're gonna have to tell me why you really left."

Weiss chuckled. "Yes. I will explain. But I did not lie. I left because I love you."

She grasped Weiss gently by the back of her head, tangled her fingers in her impossibly soft hair, and tilted her head up to kiss her again.

When she broke it off, she whispered: "I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

It started raining.

Soft and slow and gentle, it pattered on the windowpanes that glistened in the warm lamplight of Ruby's living room. The sun had set long ago. She sat on the couch in her tank top and pajamas, with Weiss' hands clasped in her own.

The mysterious white-haired woman sat next to her in an oversized white t-shirt, head resting on her shoulder. Both were silent. Ruby was giving Weiss time. Time to build up the courage to finally tell her story and dispel the mystery. She knew it would only bring them closer. It didn't matter what Weiss told her. Nothing could stop her from loving the strange Russian girl she had found in the dump.

Weiss let out a shaky breath. "It is... long story."

"You said that before," Ruby muttered with a smile. "About four times now actually."

Weiss frowned. Ruby could still see the tears tracks on her pale face. She leaned in and pressed her lips to Weiss'. It still felt awkward, but a weird lump in her throat and a strange warmth in her chest told her to do it. And judging by Weiss' grudging smile, she didn't have a problem with it either.

"Bolshoe spasibo," Weiss whispered.

"...You're welcome?"

The white-haired woman laughed. "Yes, means thank you. So thank you."

Ruby smiled and squeezed her a little closer. She never wanted to let her go after this. She would hold onto Weiss until the end of time if she could.

The coffee maker in the kitchen dinged. Fine, she would hold onto Weiss until the coffee was done. "I'll be just a sec," she muttered, heading into the kitchen.

She poured the steaming coffee into two mugs, then added vanilla creamer and sugar. She then carried them to the living room, set them on the aptly named coffee table, and sat back down.

Weiss thanked her, took a sip, sniffed once, and looked up at the ceiling. "So. It is time I tell you story, yes? My story."

"If you want to," Ruby replied. "I mean if you still don't that's fine, I don't want to pressure you or anything. You can take as long as you want."

"You are too sweet. But no. This needs to be done. If I want you to trust me fully as I trust in you, then this must be done. I shall start with the, how you say, basics?"

"Yeah. Basics. That'd be fine."

"Alright."

Weiss was silent for several seconds. Then she took a deep breath, and spoke. "I was born in St. Petersburg. My family was... very rich. Old money. Have you heard of the February Revolution?"

"Yeah, kinda. It was in like, 1920 or something? All the noble families got kicked out of Russia and the poor people took over or something?"

"1917 to be exact. And yes, the Schnee family was one of the many displaced from our home. At least we did not end up like Romanovs. That was... ah, I lose track. Anyway, in the late 1980's my family returned from our exile. Our estates were all state property of course, but much of our wealth we had taken with us. We negotiated deal with the Kremlin, and soon we were back in St. Petersburg living a life of relative wealth and luxury."

"I knew it!" Ruby gasped. "You totally were a rich girl!"

Weiss frowned at her. "That is what you think? That I am rich girl stereotype with lots of money and no sense?"

"N-No, I just meant that... like the way you eat all proper and you always sit up straight and stuff. Oh and the dancing! Not many people know how to ballroom dance these days. So I mean I guess I had a hunch. But no Weiss, I don't think of you any differently, don't worry. To me you're Weiss. Heck, I've never even heard of the Schnees. Maybe if I was Russian but, well I'm obviously not."

"No," Weiss smirked, "you are not. You would not last twelve seconds on streets of St. Petersburg."

"Yeesh, that bad?"

Weiss nodded and curled up into her. Ruby wrapped her arm around the white-haired woman and pulled her fully into her lap. She kissed her on the forehead, on the cheek, on the chin and then finally the lips.

Weiss smiled and giggled. "What was that for?"

"Sorry. I've kinda wanted to do stuff like that for a long time."

"Well... I don't mind. It is nice."

"Yeah. So uh... you were rich and all. But what happened?" Ruby asked. "Why were you... you know. In a dump? And all the way over here in America?"

"Ah yes." Weiss hesitated. "The heart of the story. It is... I have never told anyone before. You will be first."

"Well I don't mind that. It is nice."

Weiss leaned up and pecked her on the cheek. "Don't repeat my own words. Is annoying."

"Whatever you say Princess."

"Yes," Weiss mused. "Whatever I say..."

The rain picked up, came heavier, faster. But Ruby felt fantastic. She felt warm and safe and loved, because she was finally getting the chance to make Weiss feel warm and safe and loved. Her mind drifted back to the way she had found her. Mute, dirty, and alone, in a dump all by herself. She squeezed Weiss just a little tighter. The white-haired woman's skin was so soft. She smelt like coconut, although that was probably just her shampoo.

"So. It all happened in single day. It was not slow or drawn out or anything like that. I was... I have an inclination towards women. Men are not appealing to me."

Ruby scoffed. "Well obviously."

"Ruby, are you aware how homosexuals are treated in Russia?"

"Um... do they have it bad?"

"Ruby, if you were to call someone gay in the middle of the street and start beating them in front of a police officer in America, what would happen?"

"Well the police officer would step in obviously. That's assault at the very least."

"In Russia police officer would help. He would assist in the beating of the gay man. Then he would laugh and go about his job."

"W-What? That stuff is true?" Ruby was incredulous. "Like I mean I'd heard they kinda don't like gay people there but..."

Weiss sighed. Ruby felt the snowy-haired woman's arms tighten. "It is bad over there. To be openly homosexual is as good as a death sentence. It is viewed as corrupt and wrong and unholy, and if you are caught with another person of same gender the best thing that can happen is that you are merely sent to jail and have your possessions taken by the state. That's if you are a normal citizen."

Ruby frowned and bit her lip.

"Now imagine what would happen if you were part of the old noble families of Russia, where tradition and honor and public image is held above all. Where the head of the house can beat his wife and the police do nothing about it if they even know of it at all. Where servants who make mistakes often disappear and are never seen again. What do you think would happen if a daughter of one of these noble families was found with another woman, let alone one of her servants?"

Ruby stiffened up. Her heart skipped a beat. "Weiss... are you... did you?"

Weiss' voice was incredibly calm and toneless. "I do not remember much. Rough hands pulling us out of closet where we thought we would be safe. They started beating her. I screamed for them to stop, and they hit me as well. I believe I went into shock. I only remember pieces of that night. Pleading with my father. Him threatening to have me 'disappear as well.' He told me he would deal with me come morning. I didn't cry that night. I took what jewelry and money I had in my room and jumped out window. It was three stories. Snow did not do much to cushion the fall."

Ruby didn't want to hear any more, but she knew Weiss needed to tell someone. She needed to get this out of herself, out of the dark place in her mind where it had remained locked up, festering. It needed to be free. She kissed Weiss gently on the lips to remind her she was still there, then let her continue.

Weiss was silent for a few seconds. She smacked her lips. "You taste like strawberry. I escaped into the city. Sold the jewelry. I bought a knife with some of the money I had. The pawn broker tried following me and robbing me. I stabbed him in an alleyway. I do not remember how. I was much like an animal then, all instincts and reactions and pain. I made it to the port. Found a ship willing to take me on. The men there... they were nice. They respected me and did not try to have their way with me. They easily could have. I remember being surprised and scared. I fled the ship once we reached America without thanking them."

"So did you come to America on purpose or..." Ruby asked.

"No. I did not know where ship was going. I only knew they were willing to take me. That was enough at the time."

"Wow. Weiss I'm so sorr-"

Weiss interrupted her with two hands that cupped her face and a deep kiss that captured her lips. It was heavy and forceful and breathless. Weiss stole the apology from her throat before she could speak it. She leaned back after several seconds, smacking her lips again. "Still strawberry. I like it."

Ruby had to catch her breath. She wiped at the strand of drool coming from her mouth. "I was gonna say I'm-"

Weiss stared her dead in the eyes. "No. No apologies. Do not be sorry. I am not. That servant girl was stealing from me. When they beat her jewelry spilled from her pockets. Jewelry that I found missing from my room that night. You? You are different. You are, you are Ruby. If all of it had not happened, I would not have met you. We would not be together right now."

She placed a hand on Ruby's face, stroked her cheek gently with her thumb. Her voice softened. "So do not be sorry. I am not. I am glad."

Ruby smiled. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye. "Okay. Yeah, I can be happy too then. Gosh, I'm like a big baby." She wiped at her eyes. "I'm crying way too much lately."

Weiss smiled back. "I like it. In Russia everyone is closed and cold and hides their emotions. Not so you. You are open and vulnerable with me, and soft on the inside. It is refreshing."

Ruby giggled and embraced Weiss. They both fell backwards onto the couch, giggling, laughing, drowning out the pitter-patter of the rain. Ruby started tickling Weiss' sides, and she shrieked and tried to push the taller woman off of her to no effect.

Eventually Ruby let her up. Weiss leaned back against the armrest of the sofa wiping laughing tears out of her eyes, while Ruby giggled and snorted with her head on Weiss' stomach.

"You..." Weiss huffed, "you do not do that again. Ever. Tickling is off limits forever."

Ruby rested her head on Weiss' chest and looked up at her. Weiss' glacier-blue eyes seemed to sparkle and melt in the dim lamplight.

She frowned. "That is not all of story you know. There is more."

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm... when I got to America, I was lost, confused. Like I said, I ran off of ship without thanking the sailors or asking for any help. I only had the money in my pockets. That didn't last long."

Ruby pushed up onto Weiss and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. A pit in her stomach told her she wouldn't like what was coming next.

"I couldn't find job. Or place to take me in. I had few talents or natural skills, only an expensive education and a fair amount of ability with a rapier. I could fence, but that was about it."

"Ooh, you can fence?"

"Yes, but that is beside point. I was raised rich and pampered. I was not good at... low class jobs. Labor. Unskilled work. I had none of the experience or talent for it."

Ruby let out a breath onto the tender skin of Weiss' neck. The white-haired woman slipped a hand into her hair and started slowly rubbing her scalp.

"So what did you do?" she asked.

"I... I found a man who would let me work. He paid well. The job was... Ruby, I believe the word in your country is stripper. I disrobed for money in front of paying customers."

Ruby had thought she had been prepared, but it felt like her heart had just been dunked in ice water. Images of people throwing money at Weiss, of the woman she loved stripping and getting naked in front of random greedy, dirty strangers made her want to vomit. It was if someone had punched her in the gut, reached into the hole and pulled out her heart. She didn't know what to do. Weiss was silent. She apparently couldn't speak either. Weiss let out a long, shuddering breath.

So Ruby did the only thing she could. She pushed Weiss down on the couch and started smothering her with kisses. The nose, the cheek, the forehead, the collar, the shoulder, it didn't matter where. She just had to show Weiss what real affection was like. She had to make sure that Weiss was still there, still hers, not dancing naked for money in front of grubby strangers. She had to let Weiss know that someone openly, truly loved her.

Weiss was silent except for a few moans and gasps. Her eyes were shut, as if she was trying to disappear into the moment. Then she started resisting gently, pushing Ruby back up.

"H-Hold on Ruby, let me finish story. I need to finish. Please let me finish."

Ruby shrunk back, dejected. But she understood the need for Weiss to get all of it out. "Okay. Sorry."

Weiss sat up and brushed a loose strand of white hair behind her ear. "No it... that was nice. But after. Let me complete my story first."

She looked to the side, at Ruby, and Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead."

Weiss put her hands in her lap and stared forward. "So I worked as a dancer. For a while. I got decent at it. I never fully disrobed, never took off my lower undergarments. They wanted me to. Some even yelled at me for not doing it. The man who hired me yelled at them back. For a while things were fine. But then I got more popular."

She took a deep breath. "My manager tried to convince me to reveal more. To do more. To start giving 'lap dances' and private sessions like the other girls. It would bring me more money, he said. Make me rich. I don't know. There are some things I believe you can not put a price on. Such as my body. I would not let it be used by someone else for money. So he got angry. He argued. I argued back. He hit me, then threw me out. I ran. I ran far."

Ruby was at the point of tears, but she wiped her eyes with her sleeve to keep them from falling. Her heart felt like someone was operating a jackhammer on it. Every word hurt. Every sentence brought more tears that she had to hold back for Weiss' sake.

"I got lost. I ended up at edge of city, in that dump you found me at. I think I went into shock again. I survived like an animal, living off of the scraps I find in trash cans and dumpsters. I do not know how long I was there for. And then one night you found me. So there. That is my story. That is all of it. It is... over."

She looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep, slow breath. "I am done."

"So," Ruby sniffed, "is that why you freaked out on me when I tried to get you to take your clothes off back then? You had a flashback or something?"

Weiss stared at the wall, her eyes distant and faraway. "No one touches me if do not wish them to."

Ruby smiled at her through her tears. Weiss glanced over at her, back at the wall, then did a double-take. "Wait, you are smiling?"

Ruby wiped at her tears. "Yeah."

"W-What for?"

"Cuz you're really strong. Cuz you're a really amazing person."

Weiss stared at her. "I... I what?"

Ruby scooted closer to her and took her soft, pale hands in her own. "You're really strong Weiss. I don't know anyone who could have done that. You could have just stayed in Russia. But you left to make your own way. You could have just gave in and gone all the way in that stri- in that place, but you didn't. And you survived on your own with no one but yourself to help. You're a survivor Weiss. You're brave. You're strong. It's really," she sniffed and wiped at her tears again, "it's really admirable. I think you're really amazing."

Weiss suddenly looked like she wanted to cry to. "You... you mean that?"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah. I do."

Weiss looked down at the floor, but tightened her hands around Ruby's own. "I've always considered myself a coward. I always ran. I ran from my father, from my home. Not that I want to go back."

"Weiss, look at me." She did. "You're not weak just because... because you run away from bad situations. Urgh, no that sounds wrong. Like, if you'd stayed with your father, _that_ would have been weak. Just giving in. If you'd stayed at the strip club and given up on your morals and values, that would have been weak. But you had the courage to stand up and leave, even when it was dangerous. So you're not weak. You're strong, okay? You're strong."

Weiss stared her in the eyes for a few seconds, narrowing them, almost as if she was trying to see if Ruby was lying. Then she relaxed and her shoulders slumped.

"Okay. I believe you. Sometimes you need... outside perspective, yes?"

"Yeah. An outside perspective. Sometimes people are too hard on themselves, you know? Everybody's their own worst critic." She smirked. "Or if they're not they're just a douchebag."

Weiss laughed. "American words. So crude."

"Eh, they're not all that bad." Ruby didn't know what to do. She couldn't help but feel as if the conversation was over. She had a lot to think about, a lot to digest. She wanted to get closer to Weiss again, to hold her, to kiss her, to touch her, but now that the heat of the moment had worn off things felt... almost awkward.

She coughed and stood up. "So um, yeah. I should go to sleep and all. Or I mean, do you wanna stay up and watch something? If you want to sleep on the couch like before, I can totally bring out some blankets and pillows." Ruby turned to go get her keys. "I mean unless you want to go back to your motel, cuz if you need to I can drive you back and then-"

Weiss caught her hand, made her turn around. Ruby was about to ask what she was doing, but then the white-haired girl stood with surprising speed, stepped forward, and pressed her lips against her own. Ruby squeaked, then stood still. Weiss looked down at the floor, Ruby's hand still firmly clasped in her own.

"I will stay here. Tonight. This is okay, yes?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile. Her heartrate picked up. "Yeah. You can totally stay here again. I'd love to have you back."

Weiss smiled back, but glanced to the side. Her cheeks were red. "I'd love that too," she whispered.

Ruby blushed and turned to the closet containing her spare sheets and blankets, then began hastily pulling them out to find the best ones for Weiss.

"So uh yeah, I'll get the couch set up! There's food in the fridge too, so if you're hungry you can grab something."

"That sounds good," Weiss agreed. "I am quite hungry actually."

Ruby was busy folding the sheets across the couch when a screech came from the kitchen. Instantly dropping what she was doing, she rushed into it. Weiss stood there, holding a paper plate wrapped in plastic. It smelled horrible.

Ruby paled and stopped in her tracks.

"You didn't eat the pelmeni I made you!?"

* * *

Night felt different. She was in her bed, sheets and pillows thrown about it haphazardly, tossing and turning and trying to get to sleep. Her nights either went one of two ways. Either she spend two hours awake for every hour of sleep, or she passed out the second she hit the mattress and slept through the night.

The tossing and turning wasn't new. What was new was the way Weiss was making her feel. She could almost feel her warm, soft lips, the caress of her fingers, the way she smelled and the way her heart pounded and somehow melted at the same time when she was that close to her.

And then there was Weiss' past. Old nobility. Runaway. Illegal immigrant. Stripper. Beggar. It almost made her want to cry again. Why was she crying so much lately? She thought of Weiss laying there, in just the next room. She wondered if she was tossing and turning too. The more she thought about it, the more her arms ached from the absence of Weiss wrapped in them. Weiss was right there, two dozen feet from her. So why weren't they together? Why weren't they touching? Why couldn't she feel her skin, hear her heartbeat?

She growled in frustration and threw a pillow across the room. It impacted the wall with a soft thump. She turned once more, tossed once more, then got up in a sudden hurry. She couldn't do this. She _had_ to be close to Weiss. They had a bond of intimacy and trust now, one she had wanted for a long time now, and she wasn't going to let it go unfulfilled one more night.

She was halfway into the pitch-dark hallway to the living room when she bumped into something.

It hissed, she yelped, and they both fell to the ground. Ruby could barely make out the soft glimmer of white hair as her eyes adjusted.

"Weiss? Is that you?"

"Yes it is me you dunce," the shape hissed back. "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know, maybe a... I don't know!"

"Just shush up. What are you doing awake?" Weiss asked.

Ruby blushed. "Me? What are _you_ doing awake?"

"I... I was going to bathroom."

"Weiss, the bathroom is the other way."

Ruby was almost positive Weiss was blushing too. It was hard to tell in the dark. "Right," the dim specter replied. "I knew this."

"Yeah. Sure," Ruby scoffed.

"And what about you then you dolt?"

"Well, well I was going to the kitchen! For a late night snack. Yeap."

"You've never gone for late night snack the entire time you've been here. Why now?"

"B-Because I dunno, I just got hungry okay? What is this, an interrogation? And how would you even know if I did get one?"

"I am very light sleeper," Weiss replied in a decidedly more timid voice.

Ruby looked down at the floor. Or at least she thought it was the floor. Was Weiss coming to do the same thing she was planning on? She had to know.

"Weiss... were you coming to sleep with me?"

Silence and darkness was her only response.

"Weiss?"

"Yes," came a tiny squeak.

"Ohmygosh you were! You were coming to sleep with me, I knew it!"

"Well then what were you really doing?" Weiss hissed.

"I- I was just. Yeah. I was coming to sleep with you too. Or ask you at least. I don't know if we're maybe like too early into this relationship thingy to do that kind of stuff, b-but I don't want anything like _that_ you know, but just maybe sleeping in the same bed cuz, wow gosh that sounds so weird even now and-"

A finger materialized in the darkness and settled on her lips, silencing her.

"Your bed or the couch?" was all Weiss said.

Ruby thought for a second. She hadn't slept on the couch in a while. "Can we do couch?" she whispered.

"Yes. We can do couch." Ruby could have sworn Weiss was smiling.

The white-haired woman stood, pulled her up, lead her by the hand to the couch, and then gently laid down upon it. Ruby hesitated for a split-second, then laid down with her, careful to be soft and gentle. They faced eachother, on their sides in the dark, and Ruby tentatively wrapped her arms around Weiss' petite waist.

The other woman let out a short breath, like a gasp.

"Crap, are you okay?" Ruby apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"No, is fine," Weiss interrupted. "It's just... it feels good. Your arms. They are warm. Safe. It is nice."

Ruby's heart swelled like the tide. "Oh. Yeah, that_ is_ nice."

Weiss thin arms wrapped around her shoulders in return. Ruby shuddered. She didn't know being held could feel this intensely intimate. She and Weiss were so close, together in the dark. She tried to shift her legs into a more comfortable spot and Weiss must have mistaken that for something else, because she responded by tangling her own into Ruby's. Now that they were like that though, Ruby didn't want to move out of it. Weiss' legs were cold, but were already starting to warm up.

Ruby faced her... what was Weiss now? Friend? Partner? Girlfriend? She couldn't stop smiling.

"Are you... are you comfortable?" Weiss whispered.

Ruby shifted a little. Their body heat quickly warmed up the tiny space between them. Ruby's heart felt as full as an ocean. "Yeah. I'm comfortable. How 'bout you?"

"I am the same. This is nice."

Ruby smiled. "Yeah. Nice. So uh, goodnight Weiss."

Weiss chuckled. "Spokoynoy nochi."

The other woman leaned forward suddenly and pecked her on the lips. Ruby froze, licked them. Hers were dry, but that had moistened them a bit. The contact was brief and fleeting and left her wanting. She wanted more. More of that heat, more of that feel, more of that taste.

She leaned forward on her own this time, more slowly, more deliberately, and pressed her lips against Weiss'. The other woman hummed into the kiss, then started shifting her lips back and forth, brushing them over Ruby's.

Soft breaths and feather-quiet touches filled the room. Weiss smelled like coconut. Like the coconut shampoo in her shower. And she was warm. So, so warm. Never hot. Never uncomfortable. Perfect, glowing warmth.

Weiss' lips parted ever so slightly. Ruby took the invitation and slipped her tongue inside. She met Weiss' own inside the other woman's mouth, and they started an intimate dance that was all wet tangling and coiling and twisting. Ruby breathed in through her nose and tightened her arms around Weiss. The pale beauty from Russia did the same.

Her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. In the darkness, all she could feel, taste, smell, and hear was Weiss. In the darkness, against all rational sense and logic, she whispered three words. They pushed their way out of her throat of their own accord.

Weiss hesitated only a second before responding. "I love you too Ruby."

The words they needed to speak spoken, their lips met again and their tongues resumed that gentle dance.

Things continued much that way for almost an hour before they finally found sleep.

* * *

_**Sorry this took so long. Was writing other things for some friends. Things that can't be posted on this website, if you catch my drift. *cough, Ryn, cough***_


	8. Chapter 8

_Show me your hands  
Let me wash them clean_

_We all need this, to be renewed  
After time and wear, we're broken statues  
Vines intertwined around your insides, hold you down  
You beg for restoration  
Your best is crumbled from being so weathered_

_We all deserve this, to be renewed_  
_To change our ways_  
_To be allowed to choose_  
_So let me build you back up_  
_As you're carrying me too_

_As you're carrying me too_

_Show me your hands_  
_Let me wash them clean_  
_Show me your heart_  
_And let me heal you_

_We're broken statues_  
_Vines intertwined_

_Show me your hands_  
_Let me wash them clean_  
_Show me your heart_  
_And let me heal you_

_We will mend statues from the ground to the skies_

_Show me your hands_

* * *

Slowly, carefully, Ruby pulled up into her driveway of her apartment. The bitterly bright morning sun pierced through her windshield, making her groan and squint her eyes.

She was so tired. Another long, twelve hour shift, helping people who – most of the time – didn't want her help. People yelled at her. Called her a corrupt pig. Sometimes threw stuff at her. But it was a living, at the very least.

She shut off the car and stepped outside, glaring at a flock of cheerfully chirping birds who darted and zipped overhead. She grumbled and muttered to herself as she trudged her way to her front door. She fumbled with the key for a few seconds before managing to slot it in and push it open.

"Weiss, I'm ho-"

She was immediately greeted by a pair of thin, warm arms wrapped around her waist and a head of snowy-white hair buried in her chest.

She dropped her bag in the hall, stumbled forward a few steps with Weiss still attached to her, and then fully returned the embrace.

"You miss me or something?" she giggled, groggy, tired, but suddenly very happy. Somehow everything was all right now.

"You are late," Weiss replied in a muffled, distinctly Russian accent. "You know not to be late."

"Aww, was someone worried?"

A few seconds of silence. "No."

Ruby chuckled, bent down, and kissed the forehead of her girlfriend of almost three months. Who, as of a month ago, was also now a registered citizen. Weiss leaned up and caught her lips before she could lean back up, pressing her own lips to them, wrapping a slender arm around her head, and pulling her in for a slow, passionate kiss.

Her lips were hopelessly soft, and her mouth tasted like strawberries.

"Mmm... Are you using my cherry gum?" Ruby questioned when Weiss broke it off.

"Maybe." The snowy-haired woman blew a quick bubble.

Ruby laughed. "Yeah, I figured. And you were _definitely_ worried about me."

Weiss looked up and glared at her. "I was not. Be quiet." Her expression softened. "Also, I made pelmeni."

Ruby smiled and gave her a quick kiss. "Oooh, my favorite. Did you use that spice I liked last time?"

"No. I try something different this time, yes? I think you will enjoy."

"Hmm, alright then. Ready to have dinner?"

Weiss pulled out of the embrace, strode into the kitchen, and shot her a glare. "Breakfast." She moved to the stove and started stirring the pan on top of it.

Ruby followed close behind, placed her hands on Weiss' hips, and started rocking them from side to side. The barest hint of a smile graced the Russian woman's lips. "Whatever. Breakfast, dinner, same thing. You know how screwy my schedule is. Food is food. And if you're the one cooking it," she leaned around and kissed Weiss on the cheek, "I know I'm gonna love it."

The heiress' cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. "Shut up and go eat this," she grumbled. "It is done."

"Yeap! Lemme just grab plates and stuff."

Ruby moved around the kitchen in a flash. The tiredness and lethargy in her body was gone. The table was set, silverware and glasses and all, in less than a minute.

"You are such a spastic," Weiss muttered. "How did you manage before me?"

"Eh, I made it work somehow. Wasn't easy. I guess it's nice having someone to nag me."

Weiss set down the plate of pelmeni - and some other Russian dish Ruby couldn't identify - in the center of their tiny, circular dinner table. The smell invaded her nostrils, and she loved it. She associated the smell with Weiss. Seared meat, dumpling bread, spices and spices and more spices, all in the perfect blend. It was mouth-watering.

"Mmm," Ruby groaned. "Weiss, thank you so much. You don't even know how hungry I was."

"About how hungry you are every time you come through that door at eight-thirty in morning," Weiss replied. "You're always hungry."

Ruby giggled and forked a piece of pelmeni. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The taste was even better than the smell. She took her time, chewing it nice and slow, shutting her eyes and savoring the flavors. Weiss was a truly fantastic cook. When she swallowed and opened her eyes, she caught Weiss smiling at her. The other woman quickly blushed and looked down at her food.

"You were staring," Ruby crooned.

"I was doing no such thing," Weiss replied with a bite of pelmeni in her mouth.

"Hey! Talking with food in your mouth is bad manners! You used to fuss at me for that all the time!"

Weiss finished chewing and swallowed before speaking. "It appears you are rubbing off on me then."

"Hmm. Good thing or bad thing?"

Weiss glared at her, but there was a twinkle of humor in her sapphire eyes. "Bad. Very bad."

After breakfast-dinner they cleared the table and washed the dishes, put the chairs back and swept the floor. Ruby wandered over to the couch and plopped down. Weiss sat down next to her. Ruby immediately sat up, wrapped her arms around Weiss, and pulled the white-haired woman back down with her, giggling the whole while.

Weiss didn't even attempt to resist. She simply frowned and huffed a strand of white hair out of her eyes. "I should be used to this by now."

Ruby squeezed her tighter, shifting them so that they were on their sides facing eachother, and rubbed her cheek against Weiss'. It was warmer than normal. The other woman responded by sighing gently, wrapping one arm around Ruby's neck, and the other around her waist. Their legs slowly intertwined.

They didn't say anything. Nothing needed to be said. They filled the silence with gentle breathing, heartbeats, and the occasional feathery kiss.

Ruby felt herself start to drift away. She was brought back into reality by a finger prodding her nose.

"Ungh, whaaat," she groaned.

"We are _not_ sleeping on the couch tonight."

"But _Weissssss_..."

"No buts. Pick me up and carry me to bed."

Ruby groaned and pushed herself off the couch. She knew she would never be able to say no to her girlfriend. Weiss lay on the couch, her nightgown shining in the lamplight, smirking up at her. Ruby mock frowned and slid one arm under her shoulders and another under her legs, then lifted her up and started carrying her down the hall to her bedroom. Weiss leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

When they reached Ruby's bed the brunette gently laid her girlfriend down, then flopped over onto the bed and lay there like a starfish.

"You are such big dolt," Weiss monotoned. "How did I ever end up with you?"

"Don't ask me," Ruby replied, her voice muffled by a pillow. "Wasn't my fault."

Weiss crawled up next to Ruby and curled up on her, wrapping her legs around Ruby's and sliding herself in under the brunette's outstretched arm.

Ruby turned her head. "Hey Weiss, do you wanna-"

"No."

"Aw..." Ruby pouted. She looked at Weiss and put on her best 'kicked puppy' expression.

The white-haired woman sighed. "Fine. But when we wake up. Not now. You need sleep now."

Ruby grinned. "Pfft, come on, I'm never too tired for a little- ow!"

Weiss flicked her on the ear again.

"Blegh. Fine," Ruby muttered. "When we wake up."

"Yes," Weiss replied, as she pulled herself closer. Her small, petite body was very warm for it's size, and very, very hug-able. Which was exactly what Ruby did.

Weiss couldn't hide the smile on her face, being that it was inches away from Ruby's own. The brunette smiled, closed the gap, and planted a kiss on Weiss' nose.

"What are you doing you dun-"

Ruby left another kiss on her cheek. Weiss sputtered and glared at her. Ruby darted forward again, this time getting the other cheek.

"If you do that one more time I will-"

A kiss on the forehead this time.

"Why do you keep-"

A kiss on the mouth, this one lasting, tender and heartfelt. Weiss' eyes fluttered shut. Ruby shut her own eyes as well, reveling in the softness and warmth of Weiss' lips. Reveling in the fact that she finally had someone to come home to.

Someone to share her bed with. Someone to keep her warm. Someone to hold, someone to care for, someone to love.

A dirt-covered, mute, deaf, abandoned Russian girl in a back-alley dump in the middle of the night. What a strange twist of fate.

Weiss let out a soft breath through her nose as they continued to kiss. Ruby reached up and threaded her fingers through the other woman's impossibly soft hair.

It was the best thing that had ever happened to her. They both had broken pasts, came from broken homes. But even so, they found solidarity in eachother.

Two broken halves.

One complete whole.

* * *

_**And thus ends Broken Statues.**_

_**I know a lot of people were expecting more out of this, but I honestly couldn't find any way to continue the story that didn't bore me. Russian mafia? Meh. Weiss' immigration problems? Dull. More police conflict? Been done before. Honestly I figure Ruby and Weiss have been through enough. The story is wrapped up nice and tight, Ruby and Weiss are happy, and as long as they're together, things will be alright. **_

_**Another reason I wanted to finish this up is so that I can finally write the Whiterose vampire story I've had stuck in my head for the past year. Vampire Weiss, vampire hunter Ruby. I know it's been done before, but trust me, I've got a little bit of a different take on it. All bloody and gory and violent. So expect the first chapter to that soon.**_

_**I want to thank all of you for reading this, reviewing, favoriting, and for sticking around to the end, even though my updates got sporadic near said end. I love hearing from you guys, and I'd also love to hear what you think about the story as a whole.  
**_

_**Also, once again, credit for the whole idea goes to Moekumo on tumblr. Without her this story wouldn't exist. **_

_**The song lyrics at the beginning are from Broken Statues by We Came as Romans. Obviously the inspiration for the title.**_

_** So thanks again. It's been fun. **_


End file.
